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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

As we have previously reported, as loot boxes have become increasingly popular in high-profile video games, they have come under greater legal scrutiny. Several jurisdictions have indicated they are not illegal gambling, but other jurisdictions have found some implementations to be illegal gambling. Even in the jurisdictions where loot boxes are not deemed gambling, regulators have raised concerns about whether loot boxes raise other issues. One alleged concern is the potential impact on children and the potentially addictive nature of loot boxes, though little, if any, hard evidence to date supports this.
Continue Reading Unpacking Recent Loot Box Updates

This blog post originally appeared on the Class Action Defense Strategy Blog on February 8, 2016

Another lawsuit alleging illegal gambling in a social game has been dismissed. Over the last year, social gaming mobile applications have come under attack from the Plaintiffs’ bar as gambling in disguise. Plaintiffs’ attorneys theorize that in-app micro-transactions where consumers pay cash for virtual items (i.e., gold coins or gems) designed to speed up or otherwise enhance gameplay are, in effect, wagers insofar as other in-game materials can subsequently be “won” with those items. None of the plaintiffs have prevailed in these recent cases.
Continue Reading The Game Goes On: Sheppard Mullin Obtains Dismissal With Prejudice of Class Action Alleging Social Gaming Micro-transactions Constitute Illegal Gambling

Over the past few years, sophisticated pricing algorithms and artificial intelligence have attracted the attention of antitrust and competition enforcers. These new technologies interpret and respond to market conditions with far more precision, agility, and consistency than their human counterparts. As a result, they may require practitioners to develop new ways of thinking about joint conduct such as price-fixing conspiracies. But to what extent do these innovations really alter traditional antitrust analysis under Section 1 of the Sherman Act? In a recent article published in Competition Policy International’s Antitrust Chronicle, we analyze existing legal doctrines and principles to see if they can offer antitrust and competition practitioners any guidance before we jump into this “brave new world.”
Continue Reading Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence and Joint Conduct

As published on Medium.

My fellow moderator, Stephanie Zeppa from Sheppard Mullin, sits with, from left, AdRoll’s Aaron Bell, Floodgate’s Arjun Chopra, Cisco’s David Ulevitch and Luxe’s Curtis Lee.
My fellow moderator, Stephanie Zeppa from Sheppard Mullin, sits with, from left, AdRoll’s Aaron Bell, Floodgate’s Arjun Chopra, Cisco’s David Ulevitch and Luxe’s Curtis Lee.

Silicon Valley Bank, along with Sheppard Mullin, recently co-hosted a panel of seasoned entrepreneurs at Runway on “Building and Motivating a Kick-Ass Team.”

The combined experience of these panelists was incredible, and we heard some great advice about how to build and manage teams, which sometimes requires ignoring conventional thinking. The following are five of those suggestions.Continue Reading Building a Kick-Ass Team: 5 Lessons