Why streaming platform Trovo support mobile and grassroots esports so strongly

There are plenty of live streaming platforms in the market but Trovo are differentiating themselves in a few ways — one of which is supporting grassroots and emerging esports titles. While not related to their core business, it’s a smart and generous move.

Trovo is described as an “interactive live streaming platform” that is centered around community. Live streaming sees people broadcast themselves, effectively sharing their experience with people who have similar gaming interests in what can be seen as a major act of community-building.

While there are indeed other platforms that house gaming streams, Trovo are showing just how serious they are about community in other ways. Mobile esports is a heavily-debated topic, not only in terms of their popularity but even their legitimacy, but the streaming platform is helping to solidify and support this corner of competitive video gaming.

Not only do they allow titles such as PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, and Call of Duty: Mobile to be streamed effortlessly on their site, they go as far as to sponsor and actively support players and teams in the space.

Whether its sponsoring major Hong Kong-based mobile esports organization Nova Esports or co-hosting a Fortnite tournament with Italian organization QLASH, Trovo are cementing their status as champions of grassroots, amateur, and emerging esports. It’s good marketing for the platform, of course, but it proves that they are serious about growing, and advocating for, an industry that millions of people love.

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One of the many activities the platform is engaging in outside of streaming is supporting PUBG Mobile team, and now world champions, Nova Esports. While PUBG on PC is the most prominent version of the title in the West, there’s no doubt that PUBG Mobile is a hit across Asia and South America. That said, there’s a long way to go before mobile esports is at a financial and infrastructural on par with the likes of League of Legends.

Sponsoring Nova Esports’ team in the popular mobile title, Trovo’s support no doubt helped to ensure their situation on the road to becoming world champions. Across all levels of competitive gaming there’s an element of risk — one that will be present until effective monetization is achieved across the board. This means that sponsorships are foundational to the operation of organizations and the overall experience of their players.

“We believe in the future of mobile esports and were looking for an organization with a strong history of mobile gaming competition,” said Allen Chan, Trovo’s senior operations manager. “Nova Esports not only represented this but has been a strong supporter in helping Trovo pioneer mobile gaming.”

A Fornite event aimed at European players may seem entirely unrelated to an Asian mobile esports team, but it still made sense for Trovo to get one off the ground with QLASH. The streaming platform’s core business allows gamers to monetize themselves, build an audience, and increase discoverability — these elements ring true in an event aimed at amateur and budding professional players too. Considering the shared benefits of these features, it’s safe to expect many more community-driven initiatives from Trovo throughout 2021.

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“Trovo has a strong European community, many of which stream and watch Fortnite,” said Chan. “Hosting events like this is a great way to support our streamers with unique content opportunities and increase discoverability. We will be launching more events this year and will have more details about our event calendar in April.”

The Wild Rift Asia Brawl is another example of Trovo’s forward-thinking. While the game is cementing itself in the fabric of esports, they hosted an event and broadcasted it live on their platform to give an early look into the future of the title in a competitive lens.

Tournament operators are also lucky recipients of Trovo’s support, too, but in unique ways. In Call of Duty: Mobile, a fairly new entry to the mobile market, event organizers Mobile Mayhem launched their very first team alongside Trovo. The squad aims to “breathe life into mobile esports” by “creating content that keeps you on the edge of the seat,” “making merch that you actually want to wear,” and teams people truly support. This isn’t a normal sponsorship activation, but that’s exciting.

“Trovo has more than 2000 daily Call of Duty: Mobile live channels streaming on the platform and has become the number one streaming platform with largest viewership and watch hours worldwide,” Chan said of the decision to invest further into the game. “Mobile Mayhem is one the top leagues that has helped foster the competitive scene for CoD: Mobile and has supported the growth of Trovo since its inception.”

While supporting up-and-coming players and competitions is vital in Trovo’s plans, they’re proving that they can sit alongside major legacy online broadcasters. In February 2021, they were named as an official broadcast partner of the LEC — the premier European competition for Riot Games’ League of Legends. While this may seem counterintuitive to other moves made by the platform, it actually makes all the sense in the world.

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“Our European community has become one of the largest groups on the platform and acquiring the broadcast rights to the LEC provides the synergy to supplement the growing needs of the community,” Chan explained.

Attention is being fought for every waking moment in esports, with events across dozens of games taking place each day, it’s becoming both easier and harder to succeed. Easier in that people are searching for a community to become a part of, but harder because the barrier to entry is lowering often.

Trovo are using what could perhaps be seen as unconventional methods to advertise themselves, but they’re truly building up several communities in the process — communities that may well stand among the top titles across the entirety of competitive gaming for years to come.