China Chases ChatGPT’s Success

Betting on Ninja’s star power

As the e-sports industry tries to figure out how to regain growth, one company in the field, GameSquare, is leaning into the power of influencers: It is hiring the gaming celebrity Tyler Blevins, known as Ninja, as its chief innovation officer.

It’s hard to overstate Ninja’s star power in the gaming world. Having shot to fame via his skills playing Fortnite — and his commentary while playing — he has amassed over 17 million followers on Twitch. (He has also said he earns about $500,000 a month from streaming.)

Ninja is tasked with developing growth opportunities at GameSquare, which runs businesses including an e-sports team and a talent agency, in part by helping launch Ninja Labs, an in-house incubator. (His compensation will include a salary, equity and revenue-sharing in the intellectual property he develops at GameSquare.)

Justin Kenna, GameSquare’s C.E.O., told DealBook that the job would give Ninja a new way to make money outside gaming, as athletes do in sports like basketball and football. “The reality is that he’s a media asset in his own right,” Kenna said. “So how do we create opportunities for him to monetize into the future outside of just streaming?”

The hiring comes as GameSquare, and its industry, are re-finding their footing. Though e-sports has broken through to mainstream culture, that hasn’t exactly led to huge profits.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/23/business/dealbook/china-ai-chatgpt.html