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Azubu was a live streaming esports website. In May 2017, it shut down and was succeeded by Smashcast.

History

Azubu was founded in 2012 after Windhorst observed that audiences were using live streaming services to watch other people play video games, with the most popular title being League of Legends. He described the trend as unusual at the time.[1] Over roughly four years the Sapinda Group, the investment firm that Windhorst owned, put about $40 million into the company.[1]

In 2014, Azubu announced a partnership with fourteen League of Legends streamers including Faker of SKT T1 K and MadLife of CJ Entus Frost.[2]

In April 2016, Azubu released a new video player and an advertising and revenue network for its site, part of an effort to improve viewer experience and monetisation.[3] The same year, Esportspedia, a wiki owned by Azubu, was relaunched under the name EsportsWikis.[4]

Hitbox acquisition and Smashcast

In January 2017, Azubu said that it could no longer afford to stream League of Legends after the cost of streaming rights rose by about $2 million. In the same month it announced that it had acquired the European platform Hitbox and would build a new combined esports service.[5][6] On 9 May 2017, the Azubu and Hitbox sites were shut down and their traffic was redirected to the merged platform, Smashcast, which was promoted as the largest independent esports broadcaster outside Asia.[7][8]

Unpaid obligations and disputes

Azubu was reported to have failed to pay prize money owed for several esports tournaments, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 competitions. The organisers of the CS:GO World Championships said the winnings were contractually due immediately after the event but were not paid, and the matter went to arbitration. The chief executive, Mike McGarvey, said that “Azubu’s previous management team made commitments to broadcasters and events far beyond the company’s means”, adding that the firm had resolved most of those obligations but that a few, including the CS:GO dispute, remained in legal proceedings.[9]

The tournament organiser ESL also sued Azubu, seeking a minimum of $1.5 million. ESL said it had granted Azubu the rights to broadcast its content in 2016 but had never been paid, and its complaint alleged a fraudulent breach of contract.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b “Nontraditional funding may have nearly killed e-sports video firm”. The Viewpoint. 19 January 2017.
  2. ^ Azubu. “Azubu Announces Historical Partnership with Fourteen Top Korean eSports Teams”. www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2017-02-11.
  3. ^ Procter, Richard (2016). “Azubu Releases New Video Player, Revenue Stream”. Forbes.
  4. ^ “Esportspedia Relaunches Under New Name”. Dexerto. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
  5. ^ “Report: Azubu couldn’t afford $3 million 2016 League of Legends streaming rights”. Yahoo Finance. 9 January 2017.
  6. ^ Takahashi, Dean (10 January 2017). “Azubu acquires Europe’s Hitbox to expand global esports broadcasts”. VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2017-01-12.
  7. ^ “Hitbox and Azubu to relaunch as Smashcast following merger”. Esports Insider. May 2017.
  8. ^ “Azubu and Hitbox merge and relaunch as Smashcast”. MCV/Develop. May 2017.
  9. ^ Grayson, Nathan (19 July 2017). “Last Year’s CS:GO World Champions Still Haven’t Been Paid Their Prize Money”. Kotaku.
  10. ^ “ESL sues Azubu, claims a minimum of $1.5 million”. Dot Esports. August 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-05-09.
  11. ^ “ESL sue streaming platform Azubu for $1.5m”. MCV/Develop. August 2017.