HT&E (Hoyts) shutting down it’s eSports arm GFinity – shutdown incurring a $5.3m loss

When you’re at the bleeding edge you’ve got to be prepared to ride some serious rollercoasters of success and failure. Aussie Entertainment company HT&E have announced the closure of their eSports business GFinity – just 18 months after the hype of its launch.

We’re certainly fans of the concepts of eSports here at EFTM – Johnny bloody loves it, and I recently went to a mega event in Sydney.

But it turns out the glory of eSports as a business might be some time away yet.

In their half-yearly results, publicly listed HT&E have announced “Costs related to the closure of Gfinity Esports Australia” of $5.3 million – ouch.

They say they’ve been “at the forefront of this in Australia and has achieved some significant and world-leading results from the Elite Series in 2018 and Rocket League Oceanic Masters in 2019″, and they have a big event for rev heads coming up this year “The upcoming Gfinity Supercars Eseries is expected to deliver new and engaging experiences for both motoring and gaming enthusiasts alike”

However, in the world of corporate finance and profit before anything, it seems HT&E aren’t in it for the long game.

“Despite these results and progress achieved to date, the economics of esports in the Australian market are yet to yield the sustainable, positive earnings we require from our investments. We expect that further time and capital will be required to achieve this, with no certainty on when positive contribution might be achieved”

Bottom line – eSports is a thing, but they’re not prepared to keep pouring money at it because “the cash investment and time to achieve break-even is likely to be prolonged.”

The closure takes effect at the end of 2019, after current commitments – including the Supercar Eseries are concluded.

So if your local Hoyts Cinema lost a screen for eSports, you might soon be able to sit in there with two other people and watch Toy Story 4 again.