Credit: BITKRAFT/PlayBrain
- BITKRAFT Esports Ventures led a $1.9M seed round raised by Japanese esports tournament and media company PlayBrain.
- PlayBrain has partnered with Riot Games to operate Japan’s professional League of Legends league.
- The capital will be used to support operational costs for the league.
Japanese full-service esports tournament and media company PlayBrain has closed a $1.9M USD seed round led by esports investment group BITKRAFT Esports Ventures 
. The investment will support costs related to PlayBrain’s operation of the League of Legends Japan League (LJL) – the highest level of LoL competition in the country. According to the company’s statement, this marks the first Western investment in esports in the Japanese market.
In a partnership with Riot games, PlayBrain will lead the direction, operation, and commercialization of the LJL. PlayBrain founder Mike Sheetal told The Esports Observer that PC games such as League of Legends are still very much an emerging market in Japan.
“The number of people who have a competitive-ready PC at home is incredibly low,” Sheetal said. “There are a number of brands that are trying to build that up, but it’s still nothing where the West is, or even where China or Korea is for that matter. So the player base is actually quite small. However, what we’ve done with League of Legends, is we’ve managed to find an audience for viewing this content.”
Sheetal said that, currently, Japan’s esports market is primarily console and mobile-centric. This can be seen at the international level through Japan’s consistent success in fighting games, claiming more Evo titles than any other country in the world. Outside of fighting games and select mobile games like Clash Royale , however, Japan is generally considered a minor region in most top-level esports structures. Despite this, according to Sheetal, League of Legends has already become the “biggest esport in Japan.”
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“We’re the biggest league by viewership and popularity in the Japanese market right now. If you look at the total viewership over a League of Legends season, we’re probably head and shoulders ahead [of other esports in Japan].”
Sheetal said that PlayBrain would not have taken on the operation of the LJL without BITKRAFT’s investment and support. The capital will allow the company to cover the upfront costs of running the league, and generate revenue through sponsorship sales. “Essentially, we’re able to take some bigger risks on the things that we do.”
PlayBrain was founded in 2016 in Tokyo, Japan, and has partnered with companies such as Activision Blizzard , Bandai Namco Entertainment, and Supercell to produce large-scale competitive gaming leagues and events in the region.
