Microsoft purchases esports tournament hosting platform Smash.gg

Smash.gg, one of the biggest websites for hosting and running live gaming tournaments, was officially acquired by tech giant Microsoft today.

This acquisition appears to be a simple investment by Microsoft into the popular platform, which will give the company access to live tournament hosting for its own esports and gaming events in the future.

Smash.gg as an entity will continue as a self-service esports platform that provides tournament organizers with a way to easily manage their events. But the team behind the platform now has more resources to work with and will benefit from being official employees under the Microsoft Content Services team. 

“Since we started in 2015, our goal has been to build active esports scenes around the games people love to play,” smash.gg said. “Today we’re excited to take the next step in that journey by joining Microsoft to help strengthen our existing relationships and explore new opportunities.”

Smash.gg is a free resource that gives tournament organizers a platform to host their events with a centralized hub of rules, brackets, and other tools. This also makes it easy for various communities to find events to compete in and has been incredibly valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic since most events have moved entirely online. 

Originally, smash.gg was used simply for Super Smash Bros. related tournament hosting when it launched in 2015, but it quickly grew beyond that and started opening its doors to the entire Fighting Game Community. Once that expansion was made, the platform never stopped and now hosts FGC, Fortnite, Rocket League, and other tournaments, sometimes in partnership with companies like Capcom or Psyonix.

The smash.gg team promises that nothing has changed at the moment besides Microsoft purchasing the platform and providing additional support. 

“For now, it’s business as usual as our combined team continues to support our community and tournament organizers,” smash.gg said. “We’re excited about this acquisition’s potential to further empower the esports community and expand Smash.gg’s reach and scale.”