Technology giant Microsoft has acquired self-service esports tournament platform Smash.gg for an undisclosed amount.
The news was shared officially on Smash.gg’s Twitter account after followers called out a banner on the platform’s homepage referencing its acquisition. Outside of a tweet from its MSN Esports social account, Microsoft has not made any public mention of the deal at the time of writing.
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Esports Insider confirmed the acquisition of Smash.gg with a representative from Microsoft’s public relations agency, who added that the company is looking to “expand their offerings” and that the tournament platform “provides a key piece in that journey to innovate and accelerate their content offerings.”
A statement from Smash.gg also read: “With this acquisition, the Smash.gg community and tournament organisers will continue to benefit from the Smash.gg platform, while our team will now benefit from additional resources and support as part of the Microsoft Content Services team.
“For now, it’s business as usual as our combined team continues to support our community and tournament organisers. We’re excited about this acquisition’s potential to further empower the esports community and expand Smash.gg’s reach and scale.”
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Smash.gg was formed in 2015 and is most well known as the choice tournament platform for fighting game esports, most namely Super Smash Bros. Since then, other game titles such as Rocket League and Hearthstone have become popular options on the platform.
In August 2017, Smash.gg reported a $11m Series A investment round featuring the likes of Spark Capital, Accel, and Horizon Ventures.
Esports Insider has reached out to Smash.gg for additional information surrounding the acquisition.
Esports Insider says: It’s certainly a red letter day for Smash.gg and its staff seeing through an acquisition from one of the biggest technology companies in the world, but it’s hardly a surprise. The self-service esports platform has been a key component of both live and online Super Smash Bros competitions, and has vastly expanded to tap bustling communities like Rocket League over the years thanks to its functionality and sleekness.