Pioneer eSports operator switches focus to Twitch chat games

One of the pioneers in eSport fantasy betting, Vulcun, has announced that effective July 5 it is to switch its focus to the Twitch streaming sector through TwitchAlerts.com, an enterprise that it acquired last year.

The company’s eSports activity ceased July 5, giving players six days to claim any refunds due, and all user data will be wiped on July 16, according to a report in the publication PCGames this week.

The publication revealed that since starting up over a year ago, Vulcun has attracted $13.3 million in funding from two seeding rounds including investment from Universal Music Group and Sequoia Capital. This latest switch, out of the betting-related sphere altogether, will see Vulcun take an as-yet undefined direction into Twitch chat engagement.

Co-founder Murtaza Hussain said in a statement:

“Last year we acquired TwitchAlerts.com and over the course of the year we’ve been focused on Twitch and making the viewing experience more engaging and fun. The new version of Vulcun.com will be focused on this. In short, we’ve always strived to make viewing eSports and Twitch streams more fun and we’ve figured out a better way to do it, vs, the current product.”

Legality questions in various US states persuaded Vulcun to halt real-money fantasy eSports betting activity in January this year.

Vulcun’s entry into the Twitch chat games field has not been without problems; earlier this year the company threatened to sue rival Athene over “serious issues with the subversive and borderline illegal ways” of its competitor, including allegations of hacking and general misconduct.

A post on Reddit from TwitchAlert complained: “TwitchAlerts has been the target of a systematic campaign of hacking, impersonation, spam and abuse that the Twitch community needs to know about.”

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