Ben Richardson, CEO at SulNOx, confident they can cost-effectively decarbonise commercial shipping. Watch the video here.
We already know a fair bit about YANA and Bidstack's existing connections with Barclays. But they seem to be going big into gaming.
New Barclays Games account set up and started tweeting towards the end of April.
https://twitter.com/BarclaysGames
"Barclays Ventures has been working in a deep partnership with the games industry for many months now," says Ben Davey, CEO of Barclays Ventures. "The creativity, deep technical skills and passion of the games industry continue to amaze us. We are so excited to be part of the You Are Not Alone global initiative using games as a force for good in fighting isolation and loneliness."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikestubbs/2020/04/08/charity-event-aims-to-digitally-bring-people-together-to-play-games-and-raise-money-during-coronavirus-lockdown/#521c7a0e7894
"Games and Esports: Playing our part to support growth."
"At Barclays, we’re playing our part to help the UK Games Industry grow and develop.
We see the positive impact that games can have in bringing communities together, inspiring creativity and building an environment to learn."
"We’re partnering with best-in-class industry bodies to bring new events, workshops and solutions. Supporting the UK games and esports industries to develop their skills and connect with like-minded professionals."
https://labs.uk.barclays/gamestech/
Only a few partnerships so far but obviously the start of some big plans going forward. Partnered with Women In Games which is interesting.
Officially, Bidstack is a backer of YANA but how much are they actually involved in helping Edge pull it all together?
YANA is run by Edge Esports Limited. Co-founded by David Whyte and David Yarnton (previous Director of Gfinity PLC).
https://yana.gg/
YANA is currently supported by 3 developers. Ubisoft, Codemasters & Sports Interactive. A group of developers who had not previously had any public dealings with Edge. Coincidentally 2/3 are publically confirmed Bidstack clients. Will it soon be 3/3?
Barclays are also supporting YANA. Bidstack recently sponsored and took part in the Ukie Hub Crawls with Barclays and Bidstack's Sonalee Parekh was previously a Director of Barclays Capital.
YANA's Press Release of confirmed events:
https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/global-game-day-yana-reveals-line-up-of-events-and-talent-879177217.html
"FIFA 20 YANA Cup Supported by Barclays: Football clubs and esports teams including AS Roma, Brøndby IF, Fnatic, LAFC, LDN UTD, Malmo FF, Ninjas in Pyjamas, NoFuchsGiven, North and Real Betis will go head to head in FIFA 20 on PS4."
There is FIFA/EA again. This time with the link to Barclays and NoFuchsGiven. Does Barclays support mean they will feature billboards with YANA and/or Barclays? We already had a first by seeing CALM featured on FIFA billboards but to see a commercial company like Barclays feature in FIFA would be a big milestone.
"Football Manager 20 YANA Challenge: Presenter James Allcott will be leading the charge on this FM 20 segment of YANA with 60 minutes of live content on the day and a fantastic competition that will see one lucky winner make their way into a future version of Football Manager as a footballer. In the build up to this, in-game advertising platform Bidstack will drive further awareness of the YANA initiative and their event on 2nd May by placing pitchside advertisements in Football Manager 2020 leveraging their native in-game advertising technology."
And here we have Bidstack named with SI for providing the in-game adverts for YANA in FM20 on May 2nd. Something Bidstack or Miles Jacobson / Sports Interactive have yet officially spoken about themselves. Event is this Saturdays so an official release is expected imminently but perhaps there are other YANA partnerships that need to go with it?
Codemasters are supporting YANA but have no confirmed participation on the event press release. However, F1 2020 is one of the games featured on the YANA.GG website implying that the 2nd of May YANA event may be the first of many. There are also some other interesting games featured.
Other relevant backers of YANA alongside Bidstack include YaLLa Esports, Ukie and Amazon Game Tech.
A lot more interest from new advertisers and brands these past few months. New advertisers cropping up every day.
Leasing.com:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/596992547?t=00h01m31s
And the new charity boards are continuously being added with partnerships including The Mix, Young Minds, Become, International OCD Foundation, CALM, amongst many. Too many requests for them to handle at the moment.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/596992547?t=00h02m20s
All running through Bidstacks SDK.
GFIN:
The knockout tournament taking place this week will see Premier League footballers representing their clubs and playing EA Sports FIFA 20, with a live final to be aired on Sky Sports on Saturday 25 April 2020.
The prize fund from the tournament will be donated to the #PlayersTogether initiative, which was created by Premier League players as a way of generating funds for the NHS and distributing them where they are needed most.
Miles Jacobson (Football Manager):
"I don't read DM's. If it's a charity request, it should go to si.reception@sigames.com - but please be aware that we are inundated with requests at the moment and have already done lots with/for the NHS (which we're not talking about) alongside our mental health adverts ingame."
https://twitter.com/milesSI/status/1247905155619553283?s=20
Bidstack assisting Codemasters to get the message out there. What are they doing with Sports Interactive for the #PlayersTogether initiative that is currently not being talked about? Is it finally time for the next Bidstack FM Cup? It's been a good few years and FM players still talking about the last one. Proceeds to the NHS.
Simon Gosling:
"The Premier League will return as a FIFA tournament on NBC - The Verge - Great idea! Wonder if brands are lining up to buy the in-game ads."
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/20/21227955/premier-league-soccer-football-fifa-tournament-nbc-sky-sports
https://twitter.com/sigosling/status/1252254166904340480?s=20
High chance of RNS tomorrow AM. We might be about to find out why revenues heavily H2 weighted.
LSE downtime = doublepost.
Very interesting developments over this past week.
So, as we know CALM have now started their campaign with EA offering players in Fifa 20 custom football kits featuring their logo. But this time EA have taken an unusual extra step to just offering up personalised football kits. Very curious to see them offering the LED billboards for advertising purposes for the first time in recent FIFA releases.
“It’s not just that – there are also special FUT Kits, supporter signs and LED boards all carrying our messages about tackling the stigma around suicide and mental health.”
https://www.thecalmzone.net/2020/04/you-can-now-play-as-calm-on-fifa/
And of course this is a few days after CALM started their campaign on Football Manager 20. This is being displayed in the same fashion as the Uber Eats, Football Index, Unilever ads rather then on the default cycle of the current charity adboards FM20 runs.
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-04-04-football-manager-2020-gives-free-in-game-pitch-side-advertising-hoarding-space-to-mental-health-charity-during-the-lockdown
Yesterday evening we have the other interesting move by EA. PizzaHut billboards inserted in to Madden following the game update yesterday. An extension of the current Madden PizzaHut partnership no doubt but perhaps they also need the viewabilty technology to track the success of the campaign. Perhaps not. Either way there is already some interesting reactions being seen from gamers.
We talk about the huge increase in gamers due to isolation as the main positive outcome but these recent examples highlight perhaps what is the most exciting opportunity.
The ability to slip in the technology in a way that will actually gain praise and positivity from the people it targets. We are in an unprecedented time where there is a huge importance in transmitting a very simple short message to every single person on the planet and to make sure that people keep seeing that message. Stay home. Save lives. And people seeing this message completely understand why it is there and how important it is to see it. It will be received even better than charity billboards. And in time, these billboards can make the transition over to traditional advertising with a little bit less of a shock to gamers already seeing the space used in that way.
We just need to look at what people are saying about the Codemasters, Rebellion & Activision Blizzard campaigns to see how well it has been received and how much positive coverage it has gained. BBC, ITV, The Independent, Forbes, etc. It won’t be long before most major game developers follow suit.
What are they waiting for? Well King is restricting the campaign to the UK and waiting for local government guidance before extending it to other regions like the US. The message is very simple, so why? Because local governments, similar to the UKs Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, may actually have an advertising budget for transmitting
Very interesting developments over this past week.
So, as we know CALM have now started their campaign with EA offering players in Fifa 20 custom football kits featuring their logo. But this time EA have taken an unusual extra step to just offering up personalised football kits. Very curious to see them offering the LED billboards for advertising purposes for the first time in recent FIFA releases.
“It’s not just that – there are also special FUT Kits, supporter signs and LED boards all carrying our messages about tackling the stigma around suicide and mental health.”
https://www.thecalmzone.net/2020/04/you-can-now-play-as-calm-on-fifa/
And of course this is a few days after CALM started their campaign on Football Manager 20. This is being displayed in the same fashion as the Uber Eats, Football Index, Unilever ads rather then on the default cycle of the current charity adboards FM20 runs.
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-04-04-football-manager-2020-gives-free-in-game-pitch-side-advertising-hoarding-space-to-mental-health-charity-during-the-lockdown
Yesterday evening we have the other interesting move by EA. PizzaHut billboards inserted in to Madden following the game update yesterday. An extension of the current Madden PizzaHut partnership no doubt but perhaps they also need the viewabilty technology to track the success of the campaign. Perhaps not. Either way there is already some interesting reactions being seen from gamers.
We talk about the huge increase in gamers due to isolation as the main positive outcome but these recent examples highlight perhaps what is the most exciting opportunity.
The ability to slip in the technology in a way that will actually gain praise and positivity from the people it targets. We are in an unprecedented time where there is a huge importance in transmitting a very simple short message to every single person on the planet and to make sure that people keep seeing that message. Stay home. Save lives. And people seeing this message completely understand why it is there and how important it is to see it. It will be received even better than charity billboards. And in time, these billboards can make the transition over to traditional advertising with a little bit less of a shock to gamers already seeing the space used in that way.
We just need to look at what people are saying about the Codemasters, Rebellion & Activision Blizzard campaigns to see how well it has been received and how much positive coverage it has gained. BBC, ITV, The Independent, Forbes, etc. It won’t be long before most major game developers follow suit.
What are they waiting for? Well King is restricting the campaign to the UK and waiting for local government guidance before extending it to other regions like the US. The message is very simple, so why? Because local governments, similar to the UKs Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, may actually have an advertising budget for transmitting
Hi Mniy, to be honest I think there is (or at least was) the possibility that the game and developer won’t be announced on Monday.
In terms of company obligations, they have informed the market of the new partnership. So they may be under an NDA or have a specific reason why they want to keep it under wraps for the time being.
However, wether they anticipated it or not, there is now quite a large market of traders and investors that are expecting an announcement due to the perceived implication in the RNS that there is going to be one. If they don’t meet this expectation now on Monday there will most likely be a crash of the SP to around 5p again. This will come not only from short term traders bailing but also mid to long term holders predicting the sell-off to buy back lower because they still believe the announcement is due. I believe this whole scenario causes an issue though which is that that be name of the game title truly is going to be price sensitive information.
And if the campaign starts on the Monday, one of us eagle-eyed investors is going to find it and it may end up being sensitive information that they have failed to release. So wether they were planning to release it or not, they may have to re-evaluate unless the new campaign can go live completely undetected by us. Not much of a chance of that though.
Then again, the announcement on Monday may be fully planned. The update RNS both informing the market of the signed deal and creating a bit of buzz prior to the reveal. It also makes an attempt to stabilise the SP to over-hype by just dropping a big partnership out of the blue. A portion of the news is now priced in.
Anyways, we will now see on Monday. A personal bonus would be a mid day RNS to give the opportunity transfer a small portion of my holding to ISA in the morning. Not entirely unlikely if it is timed with the US. This company is entering in to some very exciting times.
https://audioboom.com/posts/7543345-bidstack-paul-hill-and-alan-green
You could start from 15 minutes in but you would be best off listening to the whole interview with James. Surprised any investors left who haven’t listened yet.
Well I personally don’t care much if weak holders sell due to placing fears when they haven’t properly researched the company they invest in. Short terms traders are either out now or Monday. But seeing as someone for some reason created a new account and then got banned to highlight JDs answer to funding someone else may as well post it. It’s a fairly simple answer.
Q: What kind of answers you give those people who say, you know, how's the revenue generation going. What do you say to that?
James Draper:
“ Well, we are in a situation where we don't have to go and immediately raise funds.”
30/03/20
With the current known release dates it is possible it is the one game that is going in to beta on the 7th.
Another very likely scenario is that it is an existing release and seeing as there is no major patches announced for the start of next week you would be looking at titles that currently already have billboard/hoarding space. There are two favourites here and one has been analysed quite a lot. The other, not so much.
James Draper spoke the following with regards to the new-to-Bidstack developer on Monday:
“It's a company that we're at the start of a long journey with. We have to make sure that we tread carefully with them, is it's a start of a long term relationship with them but it it's a company that we are very proud to be working with.”
There is one game that quite recently introduced a whole new playing mode that implemented a huge amount of hoarding space.
https://realsport101.com/misc/gta/gta-5-v-online-update-open-wheel-racing-series-out-release-date-cars-weekly-money-glitch-casino-heist-time-news-f1/
https://twitter.com/RockstarGames/status/1233055026874023937
https://youtu.be/4ydeeHuA2e4
But how would you introduce in-game ads to such a huge player base? You start with easing them in. And what better way to start than with trackside adverts, something that is, at this present time, more technically measurable for Bidstack than open world.
Interestingly enough, the fan made video that jabberba posted late week was running a couple of additional mods as well as the graphically upgraded branded cars. A mod that replaced the fake ads for real ads. It doesn’t necessarily look amazing but it’s a glimpse of what one developer with a little bit of spare time can create and achieve to blend in real world advertising in to an existing digital world. Will the fans react badly if it happens? Thousands downloaded and implemented this mod themselves. They wanted McDonalds in their game.
https://www.gta5-mods.com/misc/real-ads-v0-1
Imagine what Bidstack could achieve if given the chance. It’s understandable why this would be reference as the start of a long journey.
Hi Intrepid, that is fair enough. Just curious as to why you were advocating that people don’t invest when you have gone long on Bidstack and continue to hold when now sitting on about a 50% profit.
We have different opinions about the content of the last RNS. Personally, I read it as their COVID statement with a few bits of price sensitive information. Has your email not been recently flooded with similar updates from almost every company you have ever dealt with? However, I can also see your point. There is no concrete information about who and how much.
But one thing we have been given is a very specific date. With this my first instinct would have been exactly the same as yours. The release is timed with the new ISA allowance and may in fact get investors involved. Although the timing could be fortunate for Bidstack and their share price I believe that it is actually fairly coincidental. This is a fairly new thing that is being introduced to the gamers and when the beta goes live on the 7th the information will likely leak and gameplay footage will likely appear revealing details of the ads and indeed the global entertainment brand. So Bidstack may simply have to announce on the 6th.
Yes, it could all be smoke and mirrors, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised by this one. Good luck to you as well Intrepid, I know you have been in and out of Bidstack various times and it would be nice for you to have timed it well on this occasion.
R3, partnership becomes effective today. Doesn’t mean we will get an update today or that there will be any specifics at this point. We will have to see.
Intrepid, why would anyone pay your predicted £25M for Bidstack if they are (in your words) not a viable company?
You no longer have shares and instead have gone long on IG at around 4p. You say you won’t close because it will be bought at 12p. Yet you are also strongly advising people not to invest themselves in this company that is just smoke and mirrors. This is all very unusual.
Hi Intrepid, what makes you think Bidstack would release revenue figures for individual PMP deals? In March alone they have been running campaigns for Converse, MG, Football Index, Uber Eats, McDonalds, etc.
On April 6th they are starting a new campaign for a global brand on a new game. On the 6th you will find out who this is. Don’t you think it’s worth waiting until next Monday to make such allegations as you have done today? I appreciate you sold your last 100k in Bidstack a few weeks ago and it is frustrating to see the price in recovery but today’s post seems fairly unnecessary and quite inaccurate.
Interesting jilson but no need to get worked up over it. I think we are seeng two different sides of the coin.
1. JD has confirmed whole staff having to work form home. Some interruption caused from not being able to conduct face-to-face meetings and the cancelation of major conferences and expos.
2. It is up to the bank to decide if they are a viable business or not. You obviously have your opinion. JD already confirmed that he is speaking to partners at the bank. Is there any need for people to start questioning this on a bb?
So to me you have just confirmed their viability. As we both agree on, its not complicated.
Jilson, it is not overly complicated, the interruption loan is to be offered to businesses should the bank not be able to offer the loan on traditional terms. So either the bank is happy to lend under their own terms or they are able to offer the BILS which will have an 80% British Business Bank guarantee. Bidstack have 50 staff to support, should they feel that they need to apply for funding through their bank and go down the BILS route then they will most likely get it.
It is nice to see you a little bit more upbeat today though helx.
And I would agree, over excitement has been this share's main problem in the past. To me it looks like expectations are being managed a lot better so far this year but it is up to investors to react with the newsflow and not get carried away too early.
Having said that, this has been oversold and it will be interesting to see where the market re-rates it with some renewed interest from investors.