Live Tech Games today announces that ITV has injected a £2.5 million investment into the pioneering tech startup, via the Studio 55 Ventures arm, for a minority stake. The ITV team selected Live Tech Games as part of its wider strategy to enhance ITV’s reach amongst 16-34 year olds.
ITV set up Studio 55 Ventures in 2020 to work with entrepreneurs to build and scale a business within the organisation, taking advantage of ITV’s impressive business experience, backing and support as the businesses take off. With Live Tech Games, ITV has identified a start-up in the burgeoning games sector as a worthwhile investment to complement its wider portfolio of businesses as part of the scheme.
This investment and support in Live Tech Games presents a pivotal opportunity for the company to work with ITV and the UK audience, by leveraging ITV’s globally recognised IP to create new, exciting forms of entertainment direct to consumers’ mobile devices. Earlier this year, Live Tech Games successfully ran a pilot with ITV, working with the This Morning team, to keep viewers connected even after the programme had ended as thousands of players downloaded Roshambo Live, to play the exclusive This Morning game.
‘We are delighted to announce our investment into Live Tech Games this month. Studio 55 Ventures has sought out new business ideas which bring something fresh and unique to the media and entertainment worlds.’ says Rufus Radcliffe, MD ITV On Demand. ‘Samuel and Nathan perfectly encapsulate what we were looking for: innovative, creative and dedicated to their vision. We believe our investment will allow them to flourish and enable Live Tech Games to work alongside ITV in expanding the reach of our internationally recognised programmes and brands.”
The Live Tech Games offering is a unique platform, combining mobile entertainment and live game tournaments, both exclusively in-venue and nationally, bringing people together, regardless of where or who they are. The platform seeks to fill the gap in the mobile gaming market for live, light-hearted yet competitive games, taking familiar, well known games and transforming them into effortless yet rewarding live experiences. Live Tech Games’ first free app, Roshambo Live, has already enthralled UK players with its adrenaline-filled but nostalgic and simple tournament of Rock Paper Scissors, pitting players nationwide head-to-head in live knock-out rounds for the chance to win huge prizes, ranging from cash to the latest tech to unique experiences! In the last 12 months of play, Roshambo Live has given away over £60,000 worth of prizes to winners up and down the country, changing lives all from the comfort of players’ own sofas. Rapidly expanding its team to keep up with public demand, Samuel and Nathan are looking for the best-in-class talent to join the pioneering mobile game studio; including Senior Producer, Lead Artist, Game Designer, Senior Game Developer, Game Developer and QA & Test Lead. Looking for highly motivated and ready to be challenged individuals, the Live Tech Games core team will work together on the next wave of mobile gaming.
‘Following an incredibly successful pilot with ITV at the start of the year, we were delighted at the opportunity to continue working together. The team at ITV are great and we know their support will help us take Live Tech Games to new heights.’ says Samuel Worsley, co-founder of Live Tech Games. ‘We already have huge plans for new games, but we’re keeping them quiet for now – all utilising our unique Live Tech Games platform and live gaming engine that we’ve spent the past 18 months perfecting. Our pledge to our players is as always: super simple, adrenaline-filled tournament games, to win exciting prizes, that everyone can play, and anyone can win!”
