00:26 >> So Paul, we have super exciting news this episode about Activision Blizzard,
00:37 Ubisoft, and Tencent.
00:38 Are you excited?
00:39 >> Super excited.
00:40 It sounds like maybe the usual suspects, but a lot of these stories are a little
00:43 bit different this week, so always fun to see something new.
00:45 >> Let's get started.
00:46 [MUSIC]
00:49 [FOREIGN]
00:59 >> So according to that news, Activision Blizzard was subjected to a US lawsuit,
01:03 and it's all related to its game, Call of Duty.
01:06 So what's going on here?
01:07 >> Yeah, as if they didn't have enough problems already with Call of Duty League
01:11 and some of their eSports efforts really not achieving as much as I think they
01:15 would have liked.
01:16 But here now you have a lawsuit, and who it's coming from is interesting here
01:19 because it's coming from a previous owner of a Call of Duty League team.
01:24 And the complaint here is that Activision Blizzard is not allowing for
01:28 community events, community run events for Call of Duty, for eSports.
01:33 And I think that's a legitimate complaint because I think they try and very
01:37 tightly control who can compete, who can put on competitions, not because they
01:42 care about the quality of the contest.
01:45 I think they try and keep a tight hold because they care about monetizing the
01:49 contest.
01:50 So I think this is a legitimate lawsuit.
01:52 It's not frivolous.
01:53 And I would love to see them win this because I think that may open up the
01:57 eSports scene to a lot more community run events and a lot more eSports at the
02:01 grassroots level.
02:02 And now let's check Ubisoft.
02:05 Ubisoft has launched its first main video game in Singapore, Skull & Bones,
02:10 at a cost of approximately $200 million.
02:13 It took a long time to develop it, but players' opinions were mixed.
02:19 So according to that news, Ubisoft launched its first major video game,
02:23 Skull & Bones.
02:24 What do you think about this game?
02:26 And I'm asking this question because players' opinions were mixed.
02:30 Yeah, I'm reminded of, I think, some very good business advice,
02:33 which is always under promise and over deliver.
02:36 And I think Ubisoft here did the opposite, right?
02:39 They spent $200 million to make the game.
02:41 It took 10 years.
02:43 And leading up to the launch of the game, Ubisoft was saying this is their
02:46 first not AAA game, quadruple A game, as if this was going to be sort of the
02:51 next really, really big game that was going to come out in the entire
02:55 universe kind of thing.
02:56 So they were really setting the expectations high.
02:59 The reality is, I think as of today, there's probably about a million
03:03 players who bought Skull & Bones.
03:05 So this is not a huge financial success for Ubisoft.
03:08 Chances are they're losing a lot of money today on it.
03:10 But time will tell.
03:11 I think the bugs, if they can fix some of them, they may get a new audience
03:15 that will revisit the game, that will consider playing the game.
03:17 If they can get past some of those initial mixed reviews,
03:20 this may have a second life.
03:22 But I think it's one of those cases where they promise too much,
03:25 as opposed to promising less and really over delivering to the gamer.
03:29 Let's check another story, but this time from Los Angeles.
03:32 So according to that news, media company IGN has revealed plans to launch
03:51 a unique personal experience in Los Angeles dedicated to the gaming community.
03:56 Do you think it's going to be successful?
03:58 Yeah, I think no question there's a lot of demand for in-person gaming events.
04:03 I think the direction that a lot of events took though, and the direction
04:06 for the online events, have been mostly award show type things.
04:10 We had the Game Awards that in some ways replaced some of the things E3 was doing.
04:15 But I think there's a huge gap in the market still, even with the likes of
04:18 a PAX West, PAX East, PAX South, there's still a gap in the market for gaming festivals.
04:24 In other words, something that brings gamers together to compete, to buy stuff,
04:28 to look at new games, to try new games, to compete in cosplay.
04:32 The full spectrum of the gaming lifestyle in one festival,
04:37 as opposed to just an esports event, or just an award show.
04:40 So I think if they take that route of an all-encompassing festival,
04:44 it will be successful.
04:45 And also I'd love to see that kind of festival happen here in the Middle East.
04:49 I think we're lacking that here.
04:50 And now let's see Tencent.
04:52 Tencent announced the availability of the mobile game, Owner of Kings,
04:56 in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in Eastern Europe,
05:00 including its international expansion,
05:03 knowing that the game has about 100 million users, most of them from China.
05:08 So according to that news, Tencent announced the availability of mobile game
05:12 Owner of Kings in the Middle East and North Africa, in addition to Eastern Europe.
05:17 So it's a big announcement, knowing that the game has about 100 million users.
05:21 What are your thoughts?
05:22 Yeah, this is a huge game.
05:23 This is one of the gems in the Tencent portfolio.
05:26 And I think this move to bring it to the Middle East tells us two things.
05:30 I think first it tells us that China as a market is struggling.
05:34 Because of all the regulatory environment, because of everything they've done
05:38 in terms of scaring away gamers and gaming investors,
05:41 I think Tencent is hedging their bet and realizing that they need to be in other markets other than China
05:46 and need to have growth in other markets other than China.
05:49 So that's one of the forces I think playing here.
05:51 The other is I would like to believe Tencent recognizes the massive opportunity
05:56 to bring their games here to the Middle East because of the increased spend they get from players here.
06:02 The average player in Saudi Arabia will spend 100 times what the average player in China spends.
06:07 So I think hopefully they see how lucrative that market is, not just they're fearful of their home market.
06:12 Exactly, because most of them are from China.
06:15 So we'll see the expansion of Tencent.
06:17 I think it's smart. I think it'll play out.
06:19 But now let's continue our chat with our guest for today.
06:36 And to talk more about the world of video games, we have Mohamed Yassin,
06:40 the ambassador of the Jalila Foundation for Electronic Sports and Games.
06:45 Hello Mohamed, welcome to Game Changers. How are you?
06:47 Good, thank you. Thank you for having me.
06:49 First of all, let me ask you, how does the non-profit world intersect with gaming and e-sports?
06:55 There's many elements to this and I will pick two of my favorite aspects where they intersect.
07:01 The first one is the awareness part.
07:04 Today you can raise money through gaming in many platforms and many ways, such as for example streaming.
07:12 When you're streaming and you're, for example, on a video game, you have an audience, you have a following,
07:18 and you're able to raise money for causes that people might never have heard about.
07:24 So that's one element that I love about how they intersect is the awareness part.
07:30 The second aspect is the education as well, where you can educate people.
07:35 Just the many benefits that gaming can help with people, especially with children from schools at an early age,
07:42 such as being consistent, schedule, some games are very skill-based as well.
07:48 And a lot of these do create elements where you can apply some of these skills later on in real life.
07:54 Mohamed, let's talk about your role as a gaming ambassador.
07:57 How do you deal with audiences who maybe are a little bit skeptical about gaming or e-sports?
08:02 How do you overcome that skepticism? What do you use to essentially bring people to the gaming world?
08:08 Recently I find myself usually asking people, "How big do you think the gaming industry is?"
08:16 And they'll give a few billions, and I'll tell them, "Would you be surprised if I told you it's bigger than the film and music industry combined?"
08:25 And they'll be like, "OK, let me prove it," and then go on and search, and you find out it's over 300 billion and still growing to this very day.
08:33 So I think that aspect definitely opens people's eyes, because then from there they go like, "Well, who plays games?"
08:40 And you find out, well, it's not just people who are age 10 to 20.
08:46 The average age, I think, for players is actually right now more towards the 30s.
08:51 And it makes sense, because gaming really took off in the 90s, when you had all these amazing, fun games that came out,
08:59 and things like consoles were starting to pick up, the PlayStation, your Sega, the Xbox a little bit later, the GameCube.
09:05 So it makes sense that the players who started from then are now in their 30s, and then the people who were there in their--
09:12 such as myself, I was around 5 or 6 when a lot of these consoles and games came out.
09:16 I am now 28, so that kind of perspective opens a lot of people's eyes, and just, "Who's playing, really?"
09:23 So, Mohamed, based on your experience, what's the biggest impact gaming has on a person or organization or a program, in your opinion?
09:33 I think the biggest impact that gaming could have, and I'll say this to people, is connections.
09:41 I think through gaming, I've met some of my closest friends in places around the world.
09:47 I've never met them. Some of them I've met, some of them I haven't, but it brings people together.
09:53 That's the biggest impact it could have. It connects you with people you might never know,
09:58 if you ever would have met them as a chance or anything, and all of a sudden, you have someone online that you're friends with, you bond with,
10:05 and maybe, hopefully, one day you get to meet, or you meet somewhere in the middle.
10:09 So, I think it's getting people together. That's the biggest impact.
10:12 So, you actually build a community.
10:14 You build a community, exactly.
10:15 Thank you so much for being with us on Game Changers.
10:18 Thank you guys so much for having me. Appreciate it.
10:20 And with that, we have Mohamed Yassin, the ambassador of the Jaleela Foundation for Electronic Sports and Games.
10:28 [Music]
10:41 We're back with the Q&A segment. We have a question from X.
10:45 Do you think the emergence of games and independent video games will change the gaming industry for the better?
10:51 So, we have a poll on Twitter. It says, do you think the rise of indie games is changing the gaming industry for the better?
10:58 Most of the people said yes. What are your thoughts?
11:02 I definitely agree with the yes people here.
11:04 It's hard, I think, to argue the other side, because what we get from indie games is usually innovation, new ideas, new stories, new IP,
11:12 because they're willing to take risks, because there's no existing IP to defend or existing sequels to make.
11:19 The reality is, today, a lot of the gaming industry, the bulk, is dominated by sequels,
11:24 and dominated by huge IP, like Call of Duty, like League of Legends, like World of Warcraft.
11:29 We're talking about IP that has been around a very long time and doesn't innovate much.
11:34 So, we need indie games to innovate, to push the industry forward, and I definitely think that makes the gaming industry better and stronger.
11:41 The only time I would say maybe indie games hurt, and I would be very careful about saying hurt,
11:46 is maybe sometimes indie games create games that are a little bit too snackable.
11:52 Games that don't really do much for a gamer, you play them for a few hours and then you move on to the next indie game.
11:58 Something that doesn't have much depth.
12:00 But for the most part, I think indie games bring great innovation and great new ideas to the gaming world.
12:05 So, Paul, this is the end of our episode. Do you have any last comment you'd like to say?
12:10 I just think that it's great to see all of the companies that we usually talk about, but from a different angle this time.
12:17 I think we saw some lawsuits, we saw some other things that we don't usually get to dive into.
