Microsoft has acquired the esports organization tool Smash.GG, according to an announcement by MSN’s new esports hub. Smash.GG confirmed the acquisition with a small blurb on its front page.
Smash.GG bills itself as a self-service esports platform, offered as a free service to the owners and organizers behind gaming tournaments worldwide. It offers an easy way for fans and players to find, enter, and follow gaming competitions, along with software that automatically generates competitive brackets.
While it’s most strongly associated with head-to-head tournament fighters like Street Fighter and Super Smash Bros., as its name would suggest, Smash.GG also provides services for games in other genres, such as Rocket League, Fortnite, Valorant, and the mobile card battler Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links. It’s been used for everything from local get-togethers to major international competitions, and currently claims to support over 6,000 active events.
Founded in 2015, Smash.GG bills itself as the product of a small team of anonymous esports fans who wanted to build more active communities around their favorite games.
The actual site keeps most of its details under wraps, but per Smash.GG’s entry on CrunchBase, it’s a private company with four team members that operates out of San Francisco.
Reportedly, as far as anyone outside of Smash.GG is concerned, the acquisition won’t change anything. Smash.GG will retain the same team, branding, and software as before.
