Video game fantasy leagues latest push for local company
Online fantasy leagues are moving beyond traditional sports: A new app developed by a local company focuses on professional video gamers instead of NFL players.
HypSports lets users pit groups of gamers against each other, earning virtual points based upon reallife performances.
The app also allows play in traditional sports like football and basketball.
“Video game competitions, team-based, are selling out venues across the world,” said Mike Taramykin, a co-founder at HypSports who previously worked for Electronic Arts in Maitland.
Pro video gaming, often known as esports, has become a fast-growing trend that’s expected to earn $696 million this year, research firm Newzoo reported in February. Orlando has hosted several major esports events, with Call of Duty championships scheduled for August at Amway Center.
“Orlando is an ideal spot for events like this, especially when you consider the esports demographics — younger fans who likely travel with family members and come from all over the world,” he said. “So, over time, if Orlando can become a regular destination for esports the same way it is for other conventions and events, then its reputation for gaming will start to grow.”
If it does, it would enter an industry that predicts 385 million people will watch competitive gamers this year, either at events, on television or on live streams, according to Newzoo.
“When you break it down, it’s the same thing as being a fan of the Buccaneers and watching them play,” said Ricardo Aguiló, department chair of Full Sail University’s game-design program. “Also, people feel like they have more access than ever. You can watch your favorite player practice or at an event all year.”
That’s where Taramykin sees potential for HypSports, which has been in development since April 2016 and officially rolled out last month. The app joins some high-profile competitors, like DraftKings and Rotowire, which also run esports-based fantasy sports sites.
The app and website work similarly to other fantasy sports websites and products. Users are assigned players from which they can form their fantasy lineup. They then pit the team they built against others and receive points based upon their real world performance.
The app is free to use, but users can buy extra options to make their players stronger or pick up specific players. So far, 40,000 people have downloaded the app since its debut last month.
HypSports’ 15 workers, 13 of them in Orlando, work without a physical office — they collaborate remotely and rely on the online communication forum Slack. The company joins a video game industry in Central Florida spearheaded by Electronic Arts. The region is also home to three video game development schools.
The lead investor in the company, Orlando-based FAN Fund, has also invested in other local tech companies, such as Fattmerchant, a payment processor; and Distrx, which develops beaconbased systems that allow retail districts to push offers directly at shopper’s mobile phones when they are near.
FAN Fund has invested close to $2 million into HypSports, the firm’s managing director Mitchel Laskey said.
“It is a very experienced team with a proven track record,” Laskey said. “It’s also a big, explosive and changing market. You put those things together and it helped us build an investment thesis.”
The name of the company pays tribute to Hypnotix, a video game company the team began in 1993. Its major hit was Outlaw sports, an irreverent series of eight games released between 2002 and 2005. Electronic Arts bought that company in 2005 and brought the team from their New Jersey roots to its Maitland offices.
Since his departure from EA, Taramykin has served as vice president at Zynga and executive vice president at FanDuel, with both positions heading Orlandobased operations for the digital gaming companies.
At Electronic Arts, Taramykin says he created simulated worlds for the games he worked on. With HypSports, he says, he doesn’t have to.
“If you think about being able to add an engagement layer to live sports, it’s infinitely more interesting than any simulated world you can come up with,” he said. “The real world is as interesting as anything you can simulate.”