Big Shot Basketball is one of several sports, esports and entertainment titles in ePlay intellectual property portfolio

LOS ANGELES and CALGARY, Alberta, March 19, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ePlay Digital Inc. (CSE:EPY) today announced Big Shot™ Basketball Beta augmented reality mobile game is one of more than 10 sports, esports, and entertainment titles in the company's intellectual property portfolio. The portfolio was developed for commercial applications on behalf of clients and sponsors in 6 languages in 18 countries for events such as: FIFA World Cup, the Academy Awards, LA Lakers Basketball, Spectrum’s SportsNet, and prime-time TV premieres. The augmented reality Big Shot Game platform (Pokémon Go meets sports, esports, and entertainment) and upcoming ePlay developed titles accelerates and expands the company’s advanced technology portfolio, revenue models, and ability to reach and engage with fans, athletes, and brands.

ePlay’s intellectual property is available to the company for branding, distribution, and marketing directly by ePlay, sponsors, partners, and clients. Cross-marketing between titles and building community starting with the Big Shot Basketball title, currently in open beta on Apple App Store, amortizes development, distribution and marketing costs across several game titles, partners, and sponsors. The ePlay Digital studio model drives value and creates unfair competitive technology and marketing advantages that accelerate growth and revenue.

“In addition to ePlay’s award-winning record and technology for client service centered mobile campaigns and games in support of some of the biggest events in the world, we are now publishing mobile games direct to consumers,” says Trevor Doerksen, CEO of ePlay Digital. “With more than 10 sports, esports and entertainment mobile games in our portfolio, ePlay is executing on its business and marketing plan to drive new revenue through mobile advertising, sponsorship, merchandise/ticket sales, game publisher fees, media rights, and in-app purchases, in addition to services revenue.”

With the upcoming launch of Big Shot Basketball, ePlay's first flagship title, ePlay plans to quickly expand the company’s revenue model from client service revenue only to include: advertising, sponsorship, physical merchandise, ticket sales, game publisher fees, media rights, and in-app purchases. Mobile advertising is a US$140 billion global market growing to over a ½ trillion dollars in 2024¹. Digital games and interactive media grew by 13 percent to $119.6 billion in 2018. Mobile games led the way in 2018 with $61.3 billion in revenues. The share of immersive technology revenue coming from augmented and mixed reality (AR/MR) grew from 27 percent to 35 percent in 2018. Augmented Reality (”AR”) and Virtual Reality (“VR”) are expected to grow to $11.5 billion in 2019, up from $6.6 billion in 2018².

Big Shot Basketball is expected to have its commercial launch announced soon. The game will be officially launched in specific markets with sponsors and partners. All of the mobile games are for Android and iOS and are available for commercial release. Other titles have not yet been announced but will leverage ePlay’s award-winning intellectual property to become part of a series and/or the ePlay games portfolio. The sports, esports, and entertainment game portfolio announced to date includes Big Shot Basketball, Battle Royale, Streak, Swish, and Swish AR.

In conjunction with various discussions with publishers, ePlay is fielding interest for additional sports, territories, and game experiences powered by its game and technology portfolio to bring to market now and leading to world-class sports, esports, and entertainment events such as World Cup and Olympics.

Recently, the company announced the upcoming Big Shot Battle Royale™ format and the ability to win “Red Carpet Invites”. The massive multiplayer game allows head-to-head multiplayer action between Big Shot players fighting elimination during live NBA matches. Big Shot Battle Royale™ is the only live massive multiplayer game synced to actual NBA matches. Watching basketball live or on TV is a lot more fun with Big Shot Battle Royale. Big Shot Battle Royale™ is like other multiplayer mobile games - combining massive multiplayer, live streaming, scavenger mode, and even as a special form of combat in a last-player standing format.

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About ePlay
ePlay Digital Inc. is a mobile game creator and publisher specializing in sports, esports and entertainment augmented reality titles, including their new flagship title Big Shot Basketball. ePlay is operated by an award-winning team of sports, gaming and esports leaders as well as broadcast and digital technology industry experts, software engineers and athletes who have brought dozens of game titles to market for companies including Time Warner Cable, ESPN, Sony Pictures, AXS TV, Intel, AXN, Fiat, CBS, and others.

ePlay’s wholly owned subsidiary, Mobovivo esports specializes in augmented reality, mobile game development and mobile esports streaming.

NBA is registered trademarks of NBA in the United States and other countries. Apple, App Store, and iPhone are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Further Information
Further details are available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and the Company’s profile on the CSE’s website at www.thecse.com/

For further media information, or to set up an interview, please contact:
ePlay Digital Inc.
(310) 684-3857
E-mail: info@eplaydigital.com
Website: www.eplaydigital.com

Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE): Symbol EPY
Deutsche Boerse Xetra - Frankfurt Stock Exchange: Symbol 2NY2; WKN: A2AN4D; ISIN CA26885W1041

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¹ https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/04/30/1489708/0/en/Global-Mobile-Advertising-Market-is-expected-to-reach-USD-531-0-Billion-with-a-CAGR-of-20-9-during-2018-2024.html

² https://venturebeat.com/2019/01/16/superdata-digital-games-grow-12-to-109-8-billion-in-2018-fortnite-earned-2-4-billion/