This week saw Machinima unveil details for BCF2, with the Body Count Fighting series featuring a lineup of Street Fighter V, Injustice 2, and Tekken 7 show matches pitting some of the world’s top players. BCF2 will be held at Machinima Studios in Burbank today at 9p ET with Krizz Kaliko hosting, streamed live on Twitch and YouTube. Battles will feature:
- Injustice 2 Title Match: Slayer (Champion) vs. Han Rashid
- Street Fighter V Title Match:Commander Jesse (Champion) vs. LPN
- Injustice 2 Feature Match: Awesomo vs. Krayzie
- Street Fighter V Feature Match:LowTierGod vs. KillerMiller
- Tekken 7 Feature Match: Princess Ling vs. SperoGin.
Cynopsis Esports caught up with Jason Dimberg – Senior VP of programming/editor-in-chief for Machinima – to discuss the event, how content is evolving for the platform and the strategy under new owners Warner Bros.
Dimberg on programming: Last year, we did a full year’s worth of work in programming as part of our partnership with Verizon’s go90 platform. We did a show called Inside Esports, that was very much a news/highlight SportsCenter-type of show for esports. We didn’t find that it resonated very well within the community, so in 2017, we were looking for something that was more on point for what the esports community wanted and a format that could be blossomed into something that was higher up the funnel that a more general audience would find entertaining. We had found some success with that in our past, such as Chasing the Cup on CW, and we are preparing a season of Injustice for them that will air on Oct. 3. That appealed to a broader audience, one that is more female than is typical for esports.
On the appeal of BCF: For an event like Body Count Fighting, core esports fans get to see the matchups that they want to see as opposed to hoping that they happen in open tournament play. This event is also good for the competitors themselves because they are the focus of the marketing and the promotion to help build their recognition and brand. In addition, the format is familiar, like a UFC or WWE fight card, and allows us to play up the rivalries and dramas that exist.
On the future of the format: We are looking to do an event, not quite every month and probably closer to every six weeks. It will be like a string of live events that will probably see us do eight or so next year. We are contemplating other games as well, for example Marvel vs. Capcom is going to be big. We are contemplating maybe adding Smash as well, with a core of Street Fighter, Injustice, Mortal Kombat and then Tekken making up the big four.
On changes with Warner Bros.: We are certainly putting the focus on Machinima content back on gaming and the gaming community. If you think back to Machinima’s roots, it was a collective of creators from the gaming community who came together at a time when, in order to make money, you had to band together. We are now laser-focused on that audience and we want to make being a gamer more fun.
