Pentanet Limited (ASX:5GG) has reached a new milestone as the GeForce NOW Powered by Pentanet ecosystem continues to grow across Australia.
The cloud gaming platform’s user base has reached 170,000 registered members, who have recorded 3.8 million game sessions accounting for over 100 million minutes of game time played on the platform since launch.
On May 20, 2022, Fortnite, the world’s most popular video game, celebrated its full-access launch on GeForce NOW Powered By Pentanet with new touch controls for mobile devices. The full launch of Fortnite touch controls on GeForce NOW follows a successful beta where more than 500,000 participants across the globe used the platform to stream over four million play sessions to hundreds of different mobile device types. Fortnite is now available to all GeForce NOW users, who can stream the game through the Safari web browser on iOS and the GeForce NOW Powered by Pentanet Android app.
Cloud gaming is here in Australia in a big way. Our 170,000 member milestone demonstrates that Pentanet is making good progress in this new gaming segment. We continue to see month-on-month membership growth on the platform and anticipate this trend continuing as we see exciting new additions like the full launch of Fortnite with touch controls,” Pentanet Managing Director Stephen Cornish said.
Fortnite is one of the most popular games on the planet; we have been working closely with the global NVIDIA team to stress test GeForce NOW Powered by Pentanet to ensure the platform can deliver a high-performance gaming experience when playing Fortnite on the go.
“With more than half a million gamers participating in the global beta program, the end result is a tried and tested platform with an added touch experience that gamers everywhere will enjoy,” said Mr Cornish.
As Pentanet continues to demonstrate the capability of GeForce NOW in the Australian market, the demand for the service continues to accelerate and channels for growth expand. The company continues to focus on converting more users to a paid subscription by looking to introduce new mid-tier plans, which will be priced between Basic and Priority. The introduction of these mid-tier plans is expected to drive scale and growth in recurring service revenue and earnings.
Pentanet.GG (PGG) hosted PGG Connect, a first-of-its-kind esports bootcamp with professional teams from South East Asia, played from Pentanet HQ in Perth. The purpose of the bootcamp was to test the Pentanet networks strategic advantage as an esports hub due to the equal distance between Asia and Australia’s east coast.
“In the next few years, we want Perth to be on the global map for esports. We had to build out the Pentanet network to enable this and on the weekend, our team were training against a several strong teams from the Asian servers. It showed them that we are here, and we have the credibility to train against their region’s top teams,” said Mr Cornish.
While the players were in Perth, PGG also hosted a community workshop for two hand-selected League of Legends teams from Western Australia.
The event, ‘Level Up with PGG’, offered exclusive one-on-one access to train with the players and coach from WA’s own professional esports team, allowing them to hone their skills before battling it out on the Rift for a cash prize.
Major esports events viewership continues to rise steadily and Pentanet.GG is positioning itself to take full advantage of this trend with a strong presence in the Oceanic space, and the vision and capabilities to further expand esports in WA. According to the NewZoo Global Esports & Live Streaming Market Report, the total global esports audience will grow by 8.7% YoY to reach 532 million in 2022 and generate nearly $1.38 billion in revenues globally by the end of 2022.
Esports events offer Western Australia the opportunity to diversify our state’s economy with the development of a new industry, creating new opportunities for employment, study, tourism and beyond.