CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ePlay Digital Inc. (CSE:EPY) today announced that it has signed a multiple preliminary agreements to pursue at least
four significant sports related projects in China with potential new strategic partners following a series of meetings with Chinese
media, gaming, Internet, broadcast, and financing organizations.
In August 2018, the Telegraph reported that the Chinese government was to “crack down on children’s video games” that are deemed
as “violent” or unsavoury. Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported on the approach Internet giant Alibaba would take with non-violent
games in the upcoming Asian Games and Olympics, hosted in Beijing. In 2017, according to Bloomberg, the NBA “became China’s most
popular sports league, with a boost from tech giants such as Weibo and Tencent”. Former NBA player, Yao Ming, became the chair of
the Chinese Basketball Association, the league in which he got his start as a Shanghai Sharks player.
Sports, like basketball and the Olympics are very important in China. From the moment visitors to Shanghai step into the
airport, basketball is featured in promotional videos with highlights from NBA exhibition games taking place outdoors under the
iconic Oriental Pearl Tower in the downtown district of Shanghai known as Pudong. In demos during the past week in Shanghai, Big
Shot was consistently seen as a necessary solution to suit the Chinese marketplace.
“ePlay has a long history in the convergence of sports and mobile games - a convergence that the Chinese companies we are in
discussion with have a penchant for,” says Trevor Doerksen, CEO of ePlay Digital.
“The initial and follow-up meetings with Chinese sports networks, media, game, sports, and financing organizations continue
towards bringing sports, advertisers, and fans in China and around the world together,” continues Doerksen.
The interoperability of the ePlay AR Ad KitTM, Big ShotTM and various initiatives under discussion in
China advances state-of-the-art augmented reality marketing/advertising including in-game product placement and location-based
calls to action. According to PQ Media, product placement advertising grew “13.7% to USD $8.78 billion in 2017 and is surging
toward a ninth consecutive year of double-digit growth in 2018”.
The location-based advertising, the global market was USD $16B in 2016 and expected to grow to $32B in 2021. At Mobile World
Congress 2017, where Mobovivo, an ePlay wholly-owned subsidiary, earned Top Innovative Company recognition in Mashable,
Niantic CEO John Hanke stated that Pokemon Go had already driven 500 million visits to sponsored locations with over 35,000
sponsored locations.
Philip Chen, ePlay Board Advisor comments, “the response to Big Shot was extremely positive and we heard over and over again
from some of the biggest media, financing, and sports organizations in China that the market is ready for Big Shot.”
According to NewZoo, “619.5 million players in China will spend $37.9 billion in 2018, which makes it the biggest games market
in the world. Mobile games will generate $23 billion of this number.” The forces of mobile gaming, esports streaming, augmented
reality, product placement, and location-based advertising converge as mobile game playing audiences are multiplied multiple times
through advanced engagement with increasing esports viewing audiences.
About ePlay
ePlay Digital Inc. is a mobile game creator and publisher specializing in sports, esports and entertainment augmented reality
titles, including their new flagship title Big Shot Basketball. ePlay is operated by an award-winning team of sports, gaming and
esports leaders as well as broadcast and digital technology industry experts, software engineers and athletes who have brought
dozens of game titles to market for companies including Time Warner Cable, ESPN, Sony Pictures, AXS TV, Intel, AXN, Fiat, CBS, and
others.
ePlay’s wholly owned subsidiary, Mobovivo esports specializes in augmented reality, mobile game development and mobile esports
streaming.
Further Information
Further details are available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and the Company’s profile on the CSE’s website
at www.thecse.com/
For further media information, or to set up an interview, please contact:
Nelson Hudes
Hudes Communications International
Telephone: (905) 660-9155
E-mail: nelson@hudescommunications.com
Website: www.eplaydigital.com
or
Trevor Doerksen, CEO ePlay Digital
(647) 435-3591
Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE): Symbol EPY
Deutsche Boerse Xetra - Frankfurt Stock Exchange: Symbol 2NY2; WKN: A2AN4D; ISIN CA26885W1041
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