Amazon’s deep plunge into the esports industry
Amazon’s been busy building out an epic esports ecosystem, or empire, that is simply unprecedented. Just in case you haven’t appreciated the reality of the situation, let’s take a look at the timeline . . .
Amazon has all the pieces to dominate the eSports category, in particular, the infrastructure from Amazon Web Services (AWS), and as this article from VentureBeat points out, the gaming industry seems to be cheering them on as they take several bold steps moving into the space.
But at what point does Amazon flip the switch and go from distributor to creator?
The issue has been discussed in the Board Rooms of book publishers for years as executives raise the concern of Amazon beginning to compete with them more and more through self-published platforms.
As powerful as the ability to instantly publish and distribute content throughout the world — be it a book, video, game or an app — at the end of the day it is the content that wins the day. It’s the reason why we have both our Connected Society investment theme — focused on the businesses that thrive through worldwide internet connections — as well as the Content is King theme. The power of those two themes together have driven companies like Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) to get into the original content business, as well as the power behind acquisitions in the Cable and Media space such as AT&T’s planned merger with Time-Warner.
Of course, the thought would be a rising tide lifts all ships, and if Amazon is building the eSports category even using its own games, there will always be other creators that can come into the space . . . well, at least as long as Amazon lets them.
