Esports firm NIP Group launching games publishing arm
Founder and co-CEO Hicham Chahine tells GamesIndustry.biz first titles will be on mobile by early 2025
NIP Group is the latest compay throw its hat into the publishing ring, forming a dedicated division that aims to launch its first titles within the next six months.
The esports group was formed in January 2023 via a merger between Swedish team Ninjas in Pyjamas and Chinese esports firm ESV5. It also owns events production firm DragonV and eStar Gaming, which operates multiple game divisions in China for titles such as Honor of Kings, QQ Speed, Crossfire and Call of Duty.
The new publishing division will be focusing on esports-oriented titles, although it will also handle games in other categories. NIP Group will begin by publishing mobile games, with PC titles also in the works and plans for mini-games on social media platforms.
"While esports are at our core as a company, we aim to serve the whole gaming market, from casual to competitive gamers globally, with a focus on China, the world's largest gaming market," founder and co-CEO Hicham Chahine told GamesIndustry.biz.
"Initially, we will concentrate on mobile games with the first games expected to be published towards the end of the year or in the beginning of 2025."
He added that, while the publishing team does not have a set number of titles it aims to launch per year, NIP Group does plan to "bring to market a variety of games across multiple platforms."
The new publishing division will be led by NIP Group's chief operating officer Hang 'Allen' Sui, who spent 14 years working on games and esports projects at Tencent.
Chahine told us that other former Tencent and Netease experts are also among the publishing team's leadership, which he believes will "prove to be an advantage in the market."
"We have spent the past 20 years growing a brand and foundation with a global fanbase," he continued. "Through our merger in 2023 and with our public offering this summer, we have created an opportunity to strategically build on that footprint, which we believe is a competitive advantage and sets us up for sustainable growth moving forward.
"Games publishing is the next step in our holistic approach to growing our business through new verticals, including talent management, event production, creative studios and hospitality, that have esports at their core, but will serve a much broader audience."