What is the aim of KDDI and E -sports live distribution in partnership with "OpenRec.tv"?

On July 6, 2021, KDDI announced a business alliance with CyberZ, which operates the video distribution platform "OPENREC.tv." What kind of benefits will the tie-up with CyberZ, which has strengths in game-related video distribution such as live games and e-sports, bring to KDDI?

It has been a long time since smartphone games have taken the mainstream position in the domestic game market, but recently, peripheral businesses have expanded along with the increase in the number of game players, and attention has been increasing. Typical examples of this are e-sports and “game commentary,” which distributes game play videos.

Because of this, the number of cases where mobile phone operators are involved in the peripheral business of games is increasing. NTT Docomo has already launched the e-sports league “X-MOMENT” in January 2021 and has started operating multiple e-sports leagues, but KDDI has made a major new move.

KDDI has also been working on several esports initiatives so far, but on July 6, 2021, it signed a new business alliance with CyberZ. Announced that it will work on providing a new game distribution and viewing experience.

On July 6, 2021, KDDI announced a partnership with CyberZ, which operates "OPENREC.tv". The company plans to strengthen the game video distribution and viewing experience by partnering with the company, which is strong in live game distribution.(Source: KDDI)[Click image to enlarge] , is a company whose main business is smartphone advertising and game-related businesses. It is also known for running the e-sports event “RAGE”. OPENREC.tv, a video live distribution platform, is at the center of this partnership and one of the company's main services.

OPENREC.tv has been focusing on game live video distribution since the service started, and has gained popularity as a service that has strengths in game-related live distribution, and has grown to 4 million members. . Currently, in addition to video distribution by users, we are also producing original programs and distributing e-sports competitions, and it is said that we have already developed more than 1 million contents.

In addition to live streaming of user gameplay, OPENREC.tv also distributes original programs and e-sports competitions, and it is said that it has developed a total of over 1 million content (source: KDDI) [Click image Click to enlarge]

So, what is KDDI's aim in collaborating with OPENREC.tv?

One seems to be in "customer transfer" that makes use of the membership base of both sides. KDDI will allow members of the company's paid membership program "au Smart Pass Premium" to view some of the paid members-only videos of OPENREC.tv for free. In addition, if you sign up for a premium membership of OPENREC.tv (550 per month, tax included), you will also receive a benefit that you can use for free for 30 days.

Through the partnership, "au Smart Pass Premium" members will be able to view some of the videos for paying members of OPENREC.tv, and OPENREC.tv premium members will be able to use the service free of charge for 30 days (source: KDDI) ) [Click image to enlarge]

And the other is to support streamers and viewers. We will encourage distributors to propose new video distribution plans that utilize KDDI's latest technologies such as 5G (5th generation mobile communication system) and AR (augmented reality). In addition, we are considering opening a channel on OPENREC.tv to support distributors and viewers, and planning joint game competitions and auditions with KDDI and partner companies such as TV program production and music labels. It says.

Both companies will open new channels to support streamers and viewers, and will work with partner companies to provide content that expands the range of enjoyment (source: KDDI) [Click image to enlarge] p> As I mentioned earlier, while game-related live distribution services have become very popular in recent years, there are also many such services in Japan and overseas, such as Amazon.com's "Twitch," which is considered to be the world's largest US company. There is a lot of competition, and competition between services is intensifying. In that sense, it can be said that CyberZ wanted to increase the number of members of OPENREC.tv in partnership with KDDI, which has a large customer base, and to differentiate itself from its competitors.

OPENREC.tv is a video distribution service that supports multiple devices, but according to Yo Hyodo, director of CyberZ, about half of the viewers are watching from smartphones. Therefore, it can be said that the alliance with KDDI, which has strengths in smartphones and mobile communication services, was judged to be an advantage in expanding OPENREC.tv. Hyodo hopes to expand OPENREC.tv's membership from 4 million to 10 million through a series of initiatives.

On the other hand, where did KDDI feel the merits and came to the alliance? Kei Amano, General Manager of the 5G/xR Service Strategy Department, Personal Business Headquarters, KDDI, cites the improvement of customer experience value with 5G as the reason.

If the 5G network is developed in the future, the characteristics of high speed, large capacity, and low latency will greatly contribute to games and live distribution services. Therefore, it seems that the idea is to incorporate OPENREC.tv content and propose new experience value to customers with 5G. The compatibility between KDDI's current 5G network and OPENREC.tv's main game play video distribution service is very good, and it will certainly be an advantage in expanding the use of 5G. .

The only thing that bothers me is that KDDI's involvement in OPENREC.tv's service is small in this partnership. This can be clearly seen by comparing it with the measures the company recently took when it partnered with a domestic internet service.

For example, in June 2021, when we signed a capital and business alliance with menu, which provides food delivery services, we invested 5 billion yen in the company and launched a close collaboration to utilize the au ID platform. . Regarding the same video distribution service, KDDI also partnered with SHOWROOM, which provides a live distribution platform in March 2020. was actively involved, such as supporting the launch of

Compared to them, it seems that KDDI's involvement in this alliance is clearly small. In addition to being a partnership that does not involve investment, it seems that OPENREC.tv is a service that has a strong UGC (User Generated Contents) aspect. UGC services, depending on how they are involved, can have a negative impact on the community of broadcasters and viewers that has been cultivated thus far, and cause customer abandonment. For this reason, it can be considered that they deliberately avoided being deeply involved in the service content.

Actually, Mr. Amano said that in this partnership, "OpenREC.tv will strengthen the pursuit of content that delivers the appeal of games together with distributors, which has been important to OPENREC.tv." After doing so, he set out a policy to strengthen OPENREC.tv. It seems that KDDI will be asked how it can bring benefits to the company while maintaining an appropriate distance from the service.