Esports Mogul beta tests mobile app in South East Asia

The world of mobile is beckoning for Esports Mogul (ASX: ESH) after the media and software company commenced its move into the market with beta testing of the Mogul app.

Just last month, Mogul integrated two new mobile games into its matchmaking platform and now has its sights set on extending PC functionality to mobile users.

Mogul’s Android app is currently undergoing a geo-location-based closed beta test in South East Asia and despite the early-stage status, the company said it intends to use its innovation to deliver an “ever-expanding list of a custom game API integrations” over time.

Currently, the software company is testing tournament play for Mobile Legends Bang Bang, a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Moonton with over 1 billion downloads since launch.

Mogul said it was extending its tournament experience platform to mobile users by adding a native mobile application.

Currently, despite the strong growth of mobile gaming, there are no significant pure-play native mobile applications that enable tournament creation and hosting exclusively on mobile devices.

“This is an exciting step on our progression towards becoming the definitive global eSports destination for branded sponsors and players of all abilities, gaming interests, and location, independent of their platform of choice,” Mogul chief executive officer Michael Rubinelli said.

“At mogul.gg we are now poised to bring our best-in-class eSports experience to the 2.6 billion mobile gamers around the world. Players will be able to effortlessly create, host, and compete in all of the best branded mobile eSports tournaments available anywhere,” he added.

The rationale behind the move is to obtain a competitive advantage over other mobile gaming operators and become a first mover in the rapidly growing segment. Rapid mobile adoption combined with game developers putting greater emphasis on mobile eSports titles when publishing new games has led to strong growth multiples for mobile as a platform.

According to market research published by NewZoo, the mobile games market is on track to generate US$86.3 billion in 2020 which accounts for 49% of the global US$176 billion games market and growing “twice as fast” as the PC and console segments.

Adding mobile

Mogul claims its web platform mogul.gg allows users to participate in mobile online tournaments and characterises its move into mobile as “a great opportunity to deliver a world-first experience on one device for gamers, brands and publishers”.

Moreover, the expansion is expected to provide Mogul with better exposure to telco and non-endemic brands.

The new iteration of its app means Mogul will be able to automate eSports tournaments for game titles where publishers do not already have API integrations available with Mogul claiming its app solves this issue by utilising “leading-edge technology” to automate match results reporting and streamline the user experience.

Strategically, this enables Mogul to apply its technology to access more mobile-based eSports titles as part of the multi-billion-dollar mobile gaming market.

Mogul also said the Mogul app beta launch was “part of plans for a larger global roll-out of the Mogul eSports tournament experience for the largest gaming segment” with the ultimate aim of creating a customised “world-first” experience for mobile gamers.

More specifically, achieving API integration could significantly improve the tournament player experience in relation to automation in matchmaking, automatic score reporting, in-game match statistic tracking and enhanced spectating functionality.

Mogul’s platform is seeking to cater for people simply interested in spectating rather than playing, made popular by novel streaming platforms such as Twitch.

Mogul hopes that by making access to gaming footage seamless and effortless, its mobile app will help deliver content for streamers, influencers and “shoutcasters” – eSports commentators that provide audiences with a running commentary of live events.