Torque Esports, Frankly and WinView Combine Forces to Form Engine Media Gaming Company

Torque Esports Corp., Frankly Inc. and WinView, Inc. are combining to form an integrated news, gaming, sports and esports platform, the companies have announced.

The new company will be called Engine Media, an acronym of its coverage areas and objectives: Esports, News, Gaming, Interactive Network, Engagement.

“The combination of these three companies comes at a pivotal moment for live television and video entertainment. As entertainment programming moves on-demand, live television and video will increasingly focus on sports, news, and esports,” according to a press announcement released Monday.

Also Read: Ubisoft's Che Chou on How Esports Popularity Is Shaping How New Video Games Are Designed (Video)

Lou Schwartz, CEO of Frankly and Engine’s executive chairman, said: “Having been involved for many years in the distribution of online video, it has become clear to me that there is a strong need for a company that can serve the commercial interests of news and sports media outlets in a world where consumers increasingly consume content through a mobile device or expect an interactive experience rather than passive viewing.

“Engine will not only have the resources to manage and distribute content but also meet the interests of advertisers and brands related to that content while driving direct-to-consumer gaming and other offerings that generate cash through entry fees,” Schwartz continued. “Between the 100 million monthly touchpoints of consumers that the company currently has, not to mention the leading data and analytics company in esports, the ability to provide major revenue opportunities through the company’s combined data arsenal is astounding.”

The combination of assets includes: developers of the official Formula 1 racing game, Eden Games; Stream Hatchet, a leading business intelligence platform for esports that provides data and analytics about esport fan engagement across all leading streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube; a state of the art esports arena for staging live global and local competitions in Miami; the WinView app, which allows TV viewers to play games of skill in real time while they watch sports live on TV and win cash prizes; and a wide daily array of esports tournaments around games ranging from “Call of Duty” to “NBA 2k20” that award cash prizes through the UMG esports platform.

Also Read: Esports Streaming Is Up 41% Over the Last Year

Esports has ballooned to become wildly popular in recent years, so much so that more people tuned in to watch last year’s League of Legends world championship than they did to watch Super Bowl 53 between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams.

“Our mission is really how do we design games from the get-go, from the ground floor to be esports-ready,” Ubisoft’s senior director of esports Che Chou said earlier this month during TheWrap’s GamingGrill. “We don’t go out to create esports games. The production teams out there, they have a bunch of creative minds, they’re out there designing games. Our job is to educate them on, ‘OK, you have this awesome game, how do you make it esports ready when it comes out?'”

The Scene at TheWrap's GamingGrill 2019 (Photos)

Rooster Teeth producer Alanah Pearce, Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber, aXiomatic Gaming VP of strategy Mark Vela, Bent Pixels CEO Mike Pusateri and Crewham Inc. producer and on-air host Malik Forte at the GamingGrill 2019.
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TheWrap founder and Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman, Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber and Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Rooster Teeth producer Alanah Pearce, aXiomatic Gaming VP of strategy Mark Vela, Bent Pixels CEO Mike Pusateri, Crewham Inc. producer and on-air host Malik Forte and Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber at the GamingGrill 2019.
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TheWrap founder and Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman, Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber, IDG Consulting president and CEO Yoshio Osaki and Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick at the GamingGrill 2019.
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aXiomatic Gaming VP of strategy Mark Vela and Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber at the GamingGrill 2019.
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TheWrap founder and Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman and Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick at the GamingGrill 2019.
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TheWrap founder and Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman and Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Rooster Teeth producer Alanah Pearce, Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber, aXiomatic Gaming VP of strategy Mark Vela, Bent Pixels CEO Mike Pusateri and Crewham Inc. producer and on-air host Malik Forte at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber at the GamingGrill 2019.
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aXiomatic Gaming VP of strategy Mark Vela at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Bent Pixels CEO Mike Pusateri at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Crewham Inc. producer and on-air host Malik Forte at the GamingGrill 2019.
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The audience at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Rooster Teeth producer Alanah Pearce at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Bent Pixels CEO Mike Pusateri at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Crewham Inc. producer and on-air host Malik Forte at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Rooster Teeth producer Alanah Pearce, Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber and aXiomatic Gaming VP of strategy Mark Vela at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Guests at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Guests at the GamingGrill 2019.
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TheWrap tech reporter Sean Burch, Ubisoft senior director of esports Che Chou, UTA head of esports Damon Lau, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment SVP of business operations Ryan Garfat and ESL Gaming VP of product and content Kevin Rosenblatt at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Ubisoft senior director of esports Che Chou at the GamingGrill 2019.
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The audience at the GamingGrill 2019.
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UTA head of esports Damon Lau at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Kroenke Sports and Entertainment SVP of business operations Ryan Garfat and ESL Gaming VP of product and content Kevin Rosenblatt at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Crewham Inc. producer and on-air host Malik Forte at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Ubisoft senior director of esports Che Chou at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Kroenke Sports and Entertainment SVP of business operations Ryan Garfat at the GamingGrill 2019.
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ESL Gaming VP of product and content Kevin Rosenblatt at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Guests at the GamingGrill 2019.
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TheWrap tech reporter Sean Burch (right) with guests at the GamingGrill 2019.
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IDG Consulting president and CEO Yoshio Osaki at the GamingGrill 2019.
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aXiomatic Gaming VP of strategy Mark Vela (left) with guests at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Guests at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Crewham Inc. producer and on-air host Malik Forte (right) with guests at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Guests at the GamingGrill 2019.
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TheWrap founder and Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman, Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber and Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick at the GamingGrill 2019.
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TheWrap founder and Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman and Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Guests at the GamingGrill 2019.
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TheWrap tech reporter Sean Burch, Ubisoft senior director of esports Che Chou, UTA head of esports Damon Lau, TheWrap founder and Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment SVP of business operations Ryan Garfat and ESL Gaming VP of product and content Kevin Rosenblatt at the GamingGrill 2019.
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IDG Consulting president and CEO Yoshio Osaki at the GamingGrill 2019.
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Ross Gerber, IDG Consulting’s Yoshio Osaki, Take-Two’s Strauss Zelnick and more discuss the state of gaming in 2019

Rooster Teeth producer Alanah Pearce, Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber, aXiomatic Gaming VP of strategy Mark Vela, Bent Pixels CEO Mike Pusateri and Crewham Inc. producer and on-air host Malik Forte at the GamingGrill 2019.

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The Scene at TheWrap's GamingGrill 2019 (Photos)

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