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On April 3, 2023, the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) filed a civil complaint against Activision Blizzard Inc. (“Activision”) alleging that the “competitive balance tax” constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade under Section 1 of the Sherman Act,[1] and entered into a proposed consent decree (a binding settlement) that, if approved by a court, would bar the gaming company from imposing a “tax” against its esports leagues that exceed spending limits on player compensation.…

Continue Reading No More Games: Activision Settles with DOJ Over Esports Compensation

A newly inked strategic partnership between Sony Music Entertainment and Roblox is another indication of a maturing relationship amongst the music, gaming, and esports industries, a synergy that has evolved for years and in particular, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The major record label and game creation platform have enjoyed the mutual success of their recent collaborations and are now gearing up to allocate more resources to developing “innovative music experiences for the Roblox community that offer a range of new commercial opportunities for Sony Music artists to reach new audiences and generate new revenue streams around virtual entertainment.”
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Continue Reading Strategic Partnerships Advance Music and Gaming Synergy

This was originally published by Esports Insider on June 24, 2021

The world of competitive video gaming implicates a complicated patchwork of privacy laws, and esports companies need to keep in mind some key issues when assessing privacy and cybersecurity obligations. Understanding these obligations is all the more important as esports continues to be a quickly growing international trend.…

Continue Reading Playing with privacy? Privacy and cybersecurity considerations in esports

This was originally published by Esports Insider on June 4, 2021

Within the blockchain space, one of the fastest-growing areas is NFTs. Within the games space, esports is growing rapidly. So naturally the combination of NFTs and esports should have tremendous potential. This article will explore some opportunities at the intersection of these trends and some of the potential legal issues that might arise.
Continue Reading The Legal Considerations of Esports NFTs

The esports ecosystem experienced transcendental growth in 2020 due at least in part to the Covid-19 pandemic, and is poised to act as a spring board for even further growth this year. With traditional sports largely sidelined last year, stadiums closed to fans, and people starving for personal interaction, gamers and spectators alike have turned to esports in record numbers.  According to Newzoo, a prominent esports analytics company, 22% of the internet population participates in esports, and global gaming revenue is expected to hit $159 billion by the end of 2020.[1] Streamers and streaming platforms have exploded in popularity, allowing streamers to earn income from broadcasting their live gameplay, interact with fans and engage with other players. …
Continue Reading Esports: What We Should Expect in 2021

The streaming landscape has experienced its second major shakeup this year with Huya’s merger with DouYu on October 12, 2020. Huya and DouYu are China’s largest streaming platforms, averaging 169 million and 165 million monthly users respectively, and will combined be worth around $11 Billion USD. The merger positions the new entity as the largest esports platform in China, and makes it the de facto destination for esports eyeballs in the region.
Continue Reading Huya DouYu Merger is a Sign of Things to Come in Esports M&A

During the first few months of the COVID-19 lockdown, with virtually all major sporting events cancelled, sports betting and gambling companies turned their eyes toward the esports universe in search of a solution. While initially large scale esports events were also cancelled, professional gaming competitions soon began taking place online. As one of the only professional “sports” competitions being broadcasted with any consistency, esports competitions filled the gap for many sportsbook operators.
Continue Reading The Rise of Esports Betting