Australian social and digital analytics technology company Digivizer has announced it is taking on the Asia-Pacific esports and online gaming market with a new venture.

Digivizer has formed a separate company called goto.game – a media hub run by gamers, for gamers, designed to connect great content, events, activations, competitions and influencers within the one ecosystem.

Digivizer and goto.game CEO Emma Lo Russo said the gaming space is not new to Digivizer.

“We’ve provided social and digital insights and services in this market for clients that include Lenovo and Intel over the past three years,” she said.

“We’ve engaged some of the biggest influencers and esports teams in the APAC region, generating highly successful activations, streams, content and sponsorships, providing gaming and non-gaming brands with opportunities to be involved in the lucrative esports market.

“Our analysis of the market, and our work at events such as PAX, RTX and this year’s Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) esports event in Sydney makes it clear that there is a huge opportunity to fill a gap in the market.

“Over seven million live views of IEM and 92 million in-content views for a single event represent audiences almost double those of mainstream TV viewing numbers, including the major traditional sporting AFL and NRL grand finals.

“And we have seen this market grow, in size and in the number of engaged fans who influence each other.”

Russo said the strategy for goto.game is to bring these three groups – gamers and influencers, their fans, and brands – together in a new ecosystem that treats everyone with equal respect, adds expertise and value at every point in the engagement, and uses real-time data to understand what’s working and where to go next.

“Gamers and esports teams want to connect with commercial sponsors without compromising their values,” she said.

“Brands want to understand how to work effectively in what for many remains unfamiliar territory. And fans want to enjoy their gaming without selling out to anyone. Goto.game meets these needs. This is a gaming destination run by gamers for gamers.

“And our experience shows that using data and advanced analytics, combined with the best possible understanding of this very specialist marketplace, is the only way to deliver value and meaningful engagements to all.

“For fans, influencers and brands, this is about creating a win-win-win, with content and contexts that matter to them.”

Goto.game will be led by Digivizer’s gaming team specialists, Phid Oldfield and Jack Hudson, and supported by a team of gamers including their advertising specialists.

The company is already talking to top-tier gamers and esports teams, and launches with clients AKRacing, Intel, and Legion by Lenovo.

Goto.game aims to identify new sponsorship opportunities for brands, influencers and gamers, provide a web portal for news, opinions and reviews, develop and stage new esports events, and create and run social media activations.

The website will publish original and aggregated content from brands and gamers, and provide site take-over opportunities for brands seeking to ‘own’ the website for marketing programs.