NantWorks, a Culver City-based holding company led by Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, announced a partnership Thursday with online-game developer Daybreak Game Co., along with plans to build an e-sports arena and production studio next to the paper’s new El Segundo headquarters.
The two companies created a joint venture dubbed NantG Mobile, which will develop and publish mobile versions of Daybreak’s games H1Z1 and EverQuest. The new company will also develop and publish other games across various platforms.
Soon-Shiong will sit on the new joint venture’s board of directors.
Along with announcing the partnership, NantWorks also announced plans to build an “LA Times Center” adjacent to the newspaper’s El Segundo headquarters. The center “will include an event space, LA Times production studio and e-sports arenas with fiber inter-connectivity at a global scale,” according to the company.
“The LA Times Center will serve as a convening hub for the community and a venue where NantG Mobile will establish e-sports leagues for multiple game titles, starting with Z1 Battle Royale, a revitalized PC-based version of H1Z1: Battle Royale,” the company stated.
The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, plans to add coverage of e-sports competitions in its sports section.
“The growth of virtual sports has been explosive,” Times Executive Editor Norman Pearlstine said in a statement released through NantWorks. “We look forward to covering all the major games companies, including Daybreak.”