100 Thieves is developing a video game, hires former Telltale CEO

North American esports organization 100 Thieves is developing its own video game, operating under the working title of Project X.

The development: Building a game is no small feat, but neither is building a truly successful esports organization.

• President and COO John Robinson called the game the "biggest bet [they've] ever made as a company" and shared that 100T is currently fleshing its development staff. The type of game that Project X will turn out to be is undecided at the time of publication.
• The organization has hired Pete Hawley as its Chief Product Officer, allowing him to build out a development studio. Hawley is the former CEO of Telltale Games, Chief Product Officer of Mythical Games, and Vice President of Product Development at EA.
• 100 Thieves plans to stand out in the video games arena by approaching it differently, leading with its content creators and esports competitors as key contributors. It also plans to build in public, meaning updates will be shared along the developmental journey (a popular means of developing an audience prior to a project's launch).
• Keep an eye on 100 Thieves' Hitmarker profile as new opportunities related to Project X could come any day now!

The strategy: It's a bold move, but will it pay off?

• As we've seen by now, it's hard for esports organizations to make money. 100 Thieves is ensuring it's more than a competitive brand by placing emphasis on apparel, content, and gaming products through Higround.
• Adding a video game arm to the company is another example of its desire to diversify, serving much more than just esports audiences and communities. It's going to take a long time for competitive gaming to become financially lucrative on its own for many, if not all, organizations.
• Creating a game is a high risk, high reward task but something needs to change. Publishers own the IP of video games, making monetization a struggle, but 100T owning its own IP will open up many doors when it comes to revenue generation. Imagine how much money the company could make off of in-game items that are based on their popular creators, for example.
• The opportunity for fan engagement is off the charts considering supporters could literally get their hands on a game built by their favorite organization, competitors, and creators. Levelling up fandom here could pay dividends when it comes to supporting 100T's pro teams and buying new apparel collections, too.