Ourgame to build 10 eSports arenas in US & China; eye on Japan for WPT expansion
Ourgame International Holdings Limited, the Chinese online card game developers and owners of the WPT (World Poker Tour), have recently revealed in a public statement that they are planning to launch around 10 new eSports arenas in the USA and China by 2019. The HKEX-listed company also plans to expand WPT in Japan and South America with the help of funds gathered through the issuance of subscription shares.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, Ourgame will be issuing subscription shares that are expected to gather around 416 million HKD, or approximately US$53 million, which the Chinese company is planning to spend on expanding its Poker and eSports businesses as well as overhauling its board game offer in mainland China.
From the gathered funds, 125 million HKD will reportedly be spent to expand the eSports network globally through its subsidiary, Allied eSports International, by building four to six new eSports arenas in the United States and around two-four in China which are expected to be launched by 2018 and the beginning of 2019. Allied eSports are already working on developing the first permanent venue on the Vegas Strip in MGM’s Luxor Casino and Hotel, which Ourgame has been planning since 2016, and plans are also reportedly being made to introduce two mobile arena trucks in the US by no later than 2018.
Ourgame also plans to spend around 62 million HKD for growing the World Poker Tour, of which 25 million will be used for “geographic expansion” that would include tournaments, TV content, and marketing with a special focus on the South American and Japanese markets. Another 37 million HKD will be used for game development and advertising of the PlayWPT line of online products.
Ourgame’s expansion is reportedly part of a plan to solidify the company’s market share and fight the “intensified competition” which brought them loses of 68.4 million Yuan for the six months ending June 2017 and a year-on-year revenue drop of 34.5%.
