WEBVTT - Global Video Gaming Continues to Accelerate with UTA Along for the Ride 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:11.000 M. Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.680 where we speak with key leaders across the media business. Today. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:17.919 I'm Corey Errickson with Variety Intelligence platform. The video game 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:21.400 industry has for years undergone consistent growth and experienced a 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.680 considerable boost and attention during the pandemic, with the entire 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:28.720 market reaching nearly one eight billion dollars globally in One 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:31.880 executive involved in several sectors of this market and Sophia Lupo, 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:34.320 a partner and the head of video Games at United 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:38.560 Talent Agency, whereas division represents top global developers, professional E 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:42.320 sports athletes, content creators and live streamers. He's also been 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:45.120 involved in negotiating several high profile M and A deals 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:47.040 through ut A, So now is as good a time 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:49.040 as ever to hear from him about what's continuing to 0:00:49.040 --> 0:01:00.640 steer the game's market forward. Welcome back to strict Leap Business. 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:03.520 We're here with a fair LOOPU, the head of video 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:05.560 games at U t A. I would take at things 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.600 started off with, you know the development side of things 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:10.800 at U t A, and you know all these different 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:14.280 game creators and studios you've been able to sign. Has 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:18.479 there been anything recent going on there. Well, hey, thanks 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:21.080 Corey and thanks for having me UM. I really appreciate 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:24.720 the time. Uh. Yeah, Look, we are you know, we're 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:27.399 we're we're We're an active group of folks here at 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:31.959 U t a UM who oversee our gaming business and 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.679 we're always on the lookout for developers to represent. We 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:39.399 really want to represent the best and most talented group 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:41.760 of developers we can on a global basis. You know, 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:47.000 our business is and our client base is really diverse, uh, 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:49.559 in global in nature, I can tell you. I think 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:54.640 we have almost exactly one client in southern California. UM. 0:01:54.640 --> 0:02:00.720 Our clients spanned the globe from Boston, Montreal, Tokyo, Copenhagen, 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:04.240 and even even South Africa. And so we're always on 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:07.000 the lookout to represent really great developers. And you know, 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:09.040 one of the areas that we're always focused on is 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:13.640 representing really incredibly young and talented new studios UH. And 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.800 I'm really happy that we've signed two new studios in 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:20.000 that regard in the last few months here UM. One 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:23.760 of them is incredibly talented based in Copenhagen. They're called 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:27.840 De Guta Fabrick UH, and they made an incredibly wonderful 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:32.240 title called Mutatsi one, which was nominated for all the 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:36.400 awards in the in the last year or so, and 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.519 we're really excited to work with them. So we we 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.760 were lucky enough to represent a studio called Diama cop 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:46.480 based in South Africa, our first studio in that region, 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:50.800 who made a wonderful first title called semblance Um, which 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.320 also is recognized for a ton of awards. So we're 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:56.840 really interested, Corey in not just representing sort of the 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:59.840 biggest and best names that are sort of household names 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:01.520 in the gaming business today. And we do that. We 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.120 love doing it, obviously, and it's an honor to represent 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:07.200 those folks. It's equally as important to us to make 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:10.160 sure that we represent the next wave of creators in space. 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:13.399 That's a really good point. I mean, the gaming industry 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:18.040 is it's become, you know, an incredibly vast global market. 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:24.280 Um new Zoo has it at seventy billion globally as 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:28.360 of November of last year. UM So yeah, in terms 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:34.560 of signing development studios and creators, what specifically draws you 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:36.440 to them? In terms of the sort of games you're 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:38.560 seeing coming from you know, all these different places in 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:40.720 the world. What is ut A really looking for? In 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:44.920 that regard, well, I think we always look for folks 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:46.960 that have unique voices. I mean, I think that's the 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:50.080 you know, that's sort of a through line across all 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:53.120 of our various divisions and clients that we represent, right, 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:57.120 we want to represent people who have unique creative vision 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.240 and voices that are going to stand out from from 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:02.960 the rest, you know. Um, it's the thing that gets 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:06.960 us most passionate about representing these people. Um. You know, 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:09.640 we talk about game in my groups. We talked about 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:11.560 games all the time, we play games all the time. 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:16.080 We talked about the things that inspire us. And that's 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:19.280 really sort of been the guiding light. It's as simple 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.000 as I can put it. Um. You know, we want 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.600 to represent people that inspire us and that we are 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:28.680 passionate about. Certainly, you know, one of my favorite games 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:32.599 of all time is limbo Um made by play Dead 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:36.640 based in Copenhagen, and it's it's an honor to represent them, right, 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:39.800 It's it's exactly the kind of studio that we're we 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:46.360 dream of representing. It's great. Um, you've also signed people 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:50.680 from within Hollywood before too. Um. I believe justin Royland 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:56.160 some time ago came to you wanting to collaborate on games. Correct. Yeah, 0:04:56.440 --> 0:05:00.080 Justin is a longtime client. The agency on the the 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.040 more traditional television side obviously is the co creator Rick 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:07.520 and Mortium and now Solar Opposites, which is incredibly funny. 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.720 Um And you know, I got a call from Hit 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.520 from my colleague Matt Rice, who one of our board 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:18.000 members met TV Group who who asked me to meet Justin. 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:20.840 Uh and I did, and Justin came into my office 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:24.200 and was so passionate about games and set down and 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:26.880 basically said I want to start my own game development studio. 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:29.920 And after I tried to talk him out of that, um, 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:33.920 I realized that he was serious about it, and we 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.320 put a real plan together and put a plan in 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:40.600 place for him to you know, really understand because he's 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:45.360 a huge gamer, right and really just deep, deep understanding 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:48.679 of games and you know, going all the way back 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.919 to you know, generations ago in terms of consoles, you know, 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:56.120 really plays board games and and understands game design actually 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.840 like on a crazy level. Um But above and b 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:01.920 on that, it was really how do we get him 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:05.640 to understand how to build a development studio, how to 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:09.359 get financing around it, and then how to strike relevant 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:11.360 partnerships that can help take them to the next level 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:13.720 of Trover Saves the Universe was sort of the first 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:16.599 game that came out of that studio. Squaunch Games is 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:21.240 the studio UM and they're working on a unannounced, super 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.039 cool new one right now and I can't wait for 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:27.479 everyone to see it. So, in addition to signing various 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:31.560 development studios and game creators, U t A is also 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:36.200 heavily involved in raising capital for a lot of these companies. Yeah, 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:41.400 that's right. Um. You know, we recognize about five or 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:46.760 six years ago that in addition to the primary function 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:49.919 and services that we provide, our clients, which predominantly in 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:54.279 the game space, had been doing deals with publishers for 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:58.120 publishing services and in many cases with you know, some 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:02.560 of the first parties and first party platforms for distribution deals. 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:07.800 That we were starting to see this influx of investment 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:10.760 coming into the space, equity investment coming into the space, 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:16.320 whether that was from a handful of strategics mostly out 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:20.480 of Asia, whether it was from private equity adventure, some 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:23.920 institutional investors. Um that we're really starting to see gaming 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:27.840 as a viable investment strategy for them. That we wanted 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:32.000 to make sure that we also had that ability on 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:35.080 behalf of our clients to broker those types of transactions, 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:38.000 and so myself and a number of colleagues went out, 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:44.920 UH took our series seven, did our studying, got licensed 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:48.280 by Finra in the SEC to do those types of deals, 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:51.440 and it's been really successful UM, and it's been an 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:57.640 incredible expansion of our of what we do for our clients. UM, 0:07:57.640 --> 0:07:59.880 both on the capitol ray side, I think we've done 0:07:59.880 --> 0:08:02.119 a twenty or so of those on the gaming side 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:04.520 and the better part of the past five years, but 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:07.920 also on the M and A side. UM. We've advised 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:11.480 numerous clients of ours in the sale of their STUDIOSUM, 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:16.360 most recently representing Clay Entertainment in their sale to ten 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:20.880 CENTUM which capped off I think the third sale we've 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:24.800 done in the past eighteen months across a number of 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:29.960 different categories. So we're UM, yeah, we're super excited to 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:32.040 continue that line of business for our clients. It's an 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:37.160 incredible UH time and opportunity for game developers, both on 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:41.400 the publishing and distribution side, certainly also on the Capital 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.400 rays and M and A side. Shifting gears a bit 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:50.400 um U t A ended up acquiring two different companies 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:53.400 that were pretty invested in the e sports world, press 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:57.400 X and everyday influencers. What spurred U t A to 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.079 really sort of, you know, dive head first into with 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:04.160 the e sports and live streaming space. Yeah, it's a 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.280 great Uh, it's a great question. Glad you brought it up. 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:09.000 You know, E sports for US is a really important 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:14.720 important growth area. UM. You know, gaming has been a 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:17.200 big part of the growth of U t A on 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:19.920 the digital side, and we think that the sports UH 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:24.680 is in incredibly important and complementary. UM. You know, what 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:29.439 spurred it was I'm fortunate enough to sit on UTA's 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:33.280 investment committee, but we've been investing in companies UM for 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:35.520 quite some time, early stage all the way to late 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:41.280 stage companies across you know, media technology in various entertainment 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:43.800 sectors and consumer products as well. And that's you know, 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:50.320 companies like Lift or pocket Watch or Patreon or Masterclass UM. 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:53.200 And one of the companies that we invested in that 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:55.840 I was really an advocate for investing in along with 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:58.600 my colleague Sam Wick, who runs our adventures practice, was 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:02.840 Cloud nine, which is a leading e sports organization and 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:07.199 they're very well known. Obviously, they're they're dominant in in 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:10.920 League of Legends and a number of other games in 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:16.000 the sports sector. And that investment, which you know was 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:22.199 our first investment into the sports, our first investment in gaming. Frankly, really, 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:25.480 I think gave us this incredible front row seat to 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:28.240 what was going on in the sports world right whether 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:30.800 it was on the pro player side or the content 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:34.960 creation side. I think it really helped give us even 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:38.920 more UM certainty that we needed to be in a 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.360 deeper way. And so Sam and I together UM really 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:45.040 went out and developed this thesis that we should be 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:48.800 in that space. UM. You know, on Uta, being the 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:53.080 entrepreneurial company that it is, really gave us UM, you know, 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:55.559 all the rope we needed to go out there and 0:10:56.240 --> 0:11:00.240 you know, look at companies, look at the sector, come 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.439 back make a recommendation. We had met Damon Law who's 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.440 the CEO of of both those sister companies and his 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.080 team and really felt like they would be an incredible 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:11.080 fitt a U t A. And we're so lucky to 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:14.680 get them. And you know, since then, I'm really happy 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:19.640 to say that the thesis proved itself out cool. UM 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.800 So with a lot of E sports athletes. You know, 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:27.280 they're competing in a lot of virtual tournaments sometimes you know, 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.679 live tournaments and stadiums to you know, obviously before the 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:35.320 pandemic change a lot of that, but content creation is 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:39.640 also such a key component for many, um many sports 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:43.080 athletes active in that space. When you're looking for teams 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:47.359 or players to sign. How much is um their attitude 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:51.319 and you know, sort of quantity of live streaming sort 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:55.640 of affecting these decisions. Well, that's a good question. I 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:57.760 think it's also important to say, you know, E sports 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.280 for us is sort of abroad umbrella under which we 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.520 really operate three sub businesses. Right. There's the business of 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:12.040 representing pro players, and those are players who primarily play 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:15.839 in the franchise leagues, so that would be mostly in 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.160 League of Legends. And we represent a handful of really 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:23.000 incredible players in the Call of Duty League. UM, so 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:27.000 that is sort of its own separate business unit, right. Um. 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:30.520 Then we represent streamers of course, UM and those are 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:32.520 some of the biggest names in streaming, whether it's Nick 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:36.160 Merks or Pokemon or Valki Ray, um, this guy's Toast 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:39.880 and many many more. UM. And then we also have 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:45.120 you know, a a brand business where we've represented a 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:50.079 handful of whether they're consumer facing brands or gaming companies 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:52.800 who are looking to really activate in that space, and 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:55.600 we help advise them on a number of different ways. 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:57.400 So that's sort of e sports. More broadly, I think 0:12:57.440 --> 0:12:59.760 it's important to just make sure that we touch on 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.000 UM with respect to signing new clients. Look, I mean, 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:06.520 going back to what I spoke about earlier with respect 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:11.040 to our development studios, I think the number one thing 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:15.920 that's important in representing and signing somebody is passion. Right 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:20.080 Having that passion for them, you're going to be establishing 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:25.120 a relationship, working with them daily, weekly, monthly, you know, 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:28.160 seven days a week three. I mean, this is a 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:30.679 real it's in many ways, being an agent isn't the job. 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:34.480 That's really a lifestyle, And if you're gonna do that, 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:36.200 you're gonna have to be really passionate about the people 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:40.400 that you represent, right. UM. Coming down to it with 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:43.640 respect to live streamers, you know, I think in many 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:46.480 ways what they do is this incredible blend of art 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:50.520 and science. Um, the science part is the technical aspect. 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:56.040 Are you really good at playing these games? Because some 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.959 of the most amazing gameplay sessions I see are from 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:02.880 our clients on Twitter, which I mean, it's incredibly skillful 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:06.199 what they do. Um. Just in and of itself, the 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:10.880 art of it is can you be compelling to an audience? 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:15.560 For I mean, you know, Corey, these streams sometimes last five, six, seven, 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:20.440 eight hours. It's really it's it's it's really incredible, um 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:23.520 what they do. Can you be compelling to an audience? Right? 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.360 In many ways, you know, I view Twitch and our 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:30.600 live streamers as it's sort of the new late night 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:35.440 couch right. Um. This incredible back and forth with guests 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.240 that they bring on that they co stream, with the 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:40.840 interactivity with the audience, you know, So it's got to 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:42.960 be really compelling. So I think number one, you've got 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:45.520 to be passionate about the people you're working with. Uh. 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.120 In second, there's this incredible blend of art and science 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:51.600 that I think goes into being really great at it. One. 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:54.200 I think one of the most interesting things about sort 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:56.520 of you know, the live streaming universe and all of 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:59.120 the different people uh sort of making a living doing 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.880 this is the fact that their medium of choice is 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:06.880 something that often has them on stream interacting with fans 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.160 for hours and hours and hours and hours at a time. Um, 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.600 A lot of studies that often look at sort of, 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:16.040 you know, the most popular streamed games on Twitch often 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:18.600 find that, you know, just the streamers chatting with their 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:20.600 fans ranks as high as you know, some of the 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:24.200 most popular titles. Uh So, in that case, is there 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:28.040 sort of you know, given that Twitch in recent months 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.440 has really sort of been you know, cracking down on 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:33.720 its terms of service and making sure you know, it 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:39.200 develops very strict protocols for player behavior and addressing misconduct 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:41.560 and you know, potentially offensive things that can be said 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.400 on air. Uh is there sometimes a bit of a 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:49.040 concern with signing on players, especially from a crowd that 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:52.440 often exkews pretty young, that you know, they need to 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:58.000 understand that things like professional conduct and behavior are still 0:15:58.040 --> 0:15:59.920 sort of you know, expected if you're going to be 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.440 wrapping brands for hours and hours and hours at a 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:07.280 time on stream. Yeah. Look, I mean I think it's 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.920 it's a timely question. And you know, as a parent 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.720 of two young kids, UM, I'm really supportive of what 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:17.880 Twitch is doing to try and ensure that the platform 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:22.880 is really safe for not just the consumers and the participants, 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:27.080 and but certainly. Also, you know the streamers themselves. Um, 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:29.960 there's a lot of there's a lot of back and 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:34.480 forth there, right, Um, the questions are we concerned about it? 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.800 I mean, look, you know, to my point earlier, we 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:40.360 tend to get a really good feel for who our 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:42.880 clients are early in the process, even in the signing 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:46.000 you know, when we're signing them, right, the profile of 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.360 our clients is pretty consistent. Right, We really want to 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:52.400 represent folks that were again not a passion is going 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:54.520 to keep coming up here, not only that we're passionate about, 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:58.640 but that we feel, you know, really confident in taking 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.840 to the market. Um. Not everything is perfect, Not everything 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:04.479 is always gonna work out, and it's our job in 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.280 those thankfully very rare. I can't even think of one 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:10.800 instances that we've that we at least have the tools 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:14.280 accessible to our clients to ensure that, um, you know, 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:20.560 if they need it, that it's there. We're gonna take 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:23.600 a quick break. When we come back, we're going to 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:27.600 talk about how the pandemic disrupted the e sports world 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:30.919 and what companies heavily invested in this space, like U 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.640 t A, had to do to adjust to the new reality. 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:44.320 There welcome back to strictly business. We're here with Fear Loop, 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:46.720 who the head of video games at U t A. 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:51.800 Now Fear When the pandemic happened, obviously, it's something that 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:55.960 affected you know, virtually every sector that requires people to 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:59.879 be physically present for anything, but especially in games and 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.600 with the sports you know developing into you know, this 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:07.280 gigantic universe of global events, you know, crowd filling stadiums 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:10.040 and all that. What was sort of you know, the 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:14.879 initial impact when all these different shutdowns occurred. Gaming events 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:18.800 got canceled. Obviously, e sports can you know, exist and 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:22.240 thrive virtually. But nevertheless, you know, there were a lot 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.320 of developments in you know, continuing this to be your 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:27.800 world Blood operation. Call of Duty League in particular, I 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:30.080 think was really you know starting to ramp up things 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:35.440 following um the release of their Modern Warfare game as 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:38.080 well as you know, prepping for the release of war 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.560 Zone coming out not long after that. How did U 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:42.520 t A you know, respond to you know, all the 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:47.160 chaos of COVID. Well, the first thing and the most 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:49.600 important thing always was ensuring that all of our clients 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:52.400 were you know, we're safe and healthy and take care 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:54.919 of so that's that that's sort of standard across the 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.000 board stuff. And look what we did was we worked 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:01.240 with our our partners right to ensure that our clients 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:04.879 were going to be well taken care of, UM, whether 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:07.879 that's our partners on the league side, on the team side, 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:13.040 the organizational side, UM, and on their brand partners side UM. 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:17.040 And you know, those discussions happened early and often, and 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:19.520 I think the results were pretty good. I mean, I 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:23.359 think what's incredible about, you know, this pandemic generally is 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:29.520 seeing the innovations and ingenuity of businesses across the board, UM, 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.400 and how they managed to sort of make it through. 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.880 And the same can you know, can be said about 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:38.520 the gaming business, certainly the sports business. I think the 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:42.320 quality of the production level was really high, the quality 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:45.800 of the gameplay and the competition was really high ultimately, 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:49.200 and UM, we're really proud of our clients for getting 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:52.199 through all of it obviously, UM. And we're really you know, 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:54.920 happy of the relationship and the working relationship we've got 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:56.800 with with our partners across the board there. And I 0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:00.080 think net Net, you know, we're glad at all it 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:02.199 all turned out well and the fans were able to 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:06.439 watch and participate. And you know, obviously I I personally 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:08.199 can't wait to get back into a stadium full of 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:12.320 people and see UM and see matches live. And I'm 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:14.800 sure our clients can't either. I mean, that's that's there's 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:19.680 certainly a connection there that you can't you can't replicate. Yeah, absolutely. UM. 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:22.119 You know, as chaotic as everything has been with the pandemic, 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:24.479 one of the most interesting things to sort of witness 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:27.240 in the video game space was how, you know, massively 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:30.679 popular games like Fortnite really sort of turned themselves into 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:35.080 multimedia platforms beyond you know, just characters, you know, battling 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:39.360 each other for the top prize. Um. You were actually 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:42.920 this had already been going on before the pandemic, um, 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:45.000 as far back as when they sort of had their 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:49.679 first concert with the electronic musician Marshmallow, which arranging that 0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:54.840 was something you were actually involved at the time. Correct, Yes, yeah, no, 0:20:55.040 --> 0:21:02.560 that's a look. I think what Fortnite has done, generally speaking, UM, 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:06.600 in terms of creating this shared social space um is 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:14.560 has obviously been incredible. UM. The yeah, the Marshmallow concert 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:17.760 and uh and and all that that went into it 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:20.040 was just an incredible experience to be a part of 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:24.080 and I'm always be I'll always remember that one for sure, UM. 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:28.400 And look, we're always trying to find ways to put 0:21:28.400 --> 0:21:33.560 our clients at the center of gaming. We think it's 0:21:34.119 --> 0:21:38.440 obviously really important UM to have our clients who are 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:41.040 authentic gamers and who are really interested in the space. 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:46.480 Authenticity matters, as you know, UM find the right ways 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:50.879 of participating in in the ecosystem of gaming. So whether 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:53.359 it was the Marshmallow concert, whether it was you know, 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:56.920 someone like Dominic Fike, who's an up and coming artist 0:21:56.960 --> 0:21:58.720 that you know on the music side that we're thrilled 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:03.560 to represent. He had credible debut and Fortnite during the pandemic, 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:06.879 Or whether it's someone like post Malone who has a 0:22:06.920 --> 0:22:10.239 really deep love of Call of Duty and we were 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:12.760 able to partner him with Team Envy for him to 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:15.639 come in as an owner. UM. We're always looking for 0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:21.600 those opportunities across all of our respective areas. Now, the pandemic, 0:22:21.720 --> 0:22:26.840 for sure, UM created a heavy amount of interest from 0:22:26.880 --> 0:22:29.200 our clients who some you know, a lot of whom 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:33.720 were couldn't tour UM to get into the space. And 0:22:34.160 --> 0:22:36.640 you know, we think given all the work we've done 0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:39.160 in the past on that that there is a huge 0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:44.199 business opportunity there for our clients. UM. And so to 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:46.359 that end, I went out and we hired somebody great 0:22:46.359 --> 0:22:48.760 again named Jeff Sawyer, who announced a few months ago 0:22:48.840 --> 0:22:51.919 is come in. We hired him from Red Bull to 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:54.399 come in and oversee all the specifically all of our 0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:59.320 music and gaming partnerships. UM. Given the success of Fortnite 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:01.040 and all the work we done with them, of course, 0:23:01.440 --> 0:23:05.320 the success of Roadblocks, and you know, a ton of 0:23:05.359 --> 0:23:08.760 other opportunities in the space when you see music immigrations 0:23:08.760 --> 0:23:12.000 and games like two K t A UM, you know, 0:23:12.080 --> 0:23:16.320 we see that that intersection of gaming and music really 0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:18.840 happening and coming into a really fast velocity, and we 0:23:18.880 --> 0:23:21.240 want to make sure that we're you know, we're the 0:23:21.280 --> 0:23:23.159 best in the business of doing that for our clients. 0:23:24.040 --> 0:23:25.560 And yeah, you brought you brought him up a post. 0:23:25.560 --> 0:23:28.440 Malone has also been active on sort of these music 0:23:28.480 --> 0:23:32.760 collaboration front to UM. In February, he headlines Pokemons twenty 0:23:32.760 --> 0:23:38.200 five Anniversary Virtual Concert. UM. After this, Jeff Sawyer higher 0:23:38.240 --> 0:23:40.960 coming from Red Bull, what what do you see as 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:43.880 you know, sort of the future of these collaborations and 0:23:44.000 --> 0:23:48.320 finding all these different opportunities for gaming to come together 0:23:48.400 --> 0:23:51.080 with U T as other departments and clients, and not 0:23:51.160 --> 0:23:54.040 even in terms of just music, but you know what's 0:23:54.080 --> 0:23:56.960 going on with looking at opportunities in the film and 0:23:57.000 --> 0:24:00.960 television spaces. Look, there's a lot of ground to cover, 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:06.119 and the opportunities, frankly are are really endless. And I 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:08.280 don't just mean, you know, I'm just saying that to 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:12.040