Azubu was a

live stream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but n ...

ing

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

website. In May 2017, it shut down and was succeeded by

Smashcast Smashcast was a live streaming platform that materialised after the merger of Azubu and Hitbox in May 2017. History Azubu's acquisition of Hitbox was announced in January 2017. At the time, they announced they were "launch a new platform, focu ...

History

Azubu was founded in 2012 when Lars Windhorst noticed that children were using live streaming services to watch others play

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s, with the biggest game being

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...

. Windhorst claimed "it was exotic" to witness people watch others play video games. Over a four-year span, Sapinda Group, the firm that Windhorst owned, invested $40 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

into Azubu. In 2014, Azubu announced partnered with fourteen League of Legends streamers including Faker of SKT T1 K and

MadLife Hong Min-gi ( ko, 홍민기), better known as MadLife ( ko, 매드라이프, links=no), is a South Korean video game streamer, esports caster and former professional ''League of Legends'' player. During his career as a professional ''League o ...

of CJ Entus Frost. Throughout much of 2016, several employees left the company, leaving Sapinda Group to fund Azubu less and less. Windhorst eventually admitted that he had funded Azubu inefficiently and should have provided more sufficient funding. Sapinda Group would "drip-feed" funds to Azubu to accelerate growth. In April 2016 Azubu revealed that they had been developing a better video player and a revenue network that they released for their website. The same year, Esportspedia, owned by Azubu, moved to EsportsWikis, although the old website is still functional.

Closure

In January 2017, Azubu revealed that they were no longer able to stream

due to a $2 million price hike in streaming rights. The same month, Azubu announced that they had acquired and were working on develop a new

eSports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

platform. On May 9, 2017, Hitbox shut down, with the new release of the Azubu team and the Hitbox team's new platform

. Azubu allegedly haven't paid out the prizes for several

events. The current

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, Mike McGarvey, explained the reason as "Azubu’s previous management team made commitments to broadcasters and events far beyond the company’s means".

References

{{Reflist Video game websites Video hosting Internet television channels Mass media companies established in 2012 Internet properties disestablished in 2017 Video game streaming services