ELO

ELO is here 🧨 Community is Evolving - its time for... Power to the Gamer 📷

It is a dream come true to see so many of you piloting through the galaxy! 🐈‍⬛ Based on mountains of your fantastic feedback, the red laser pointer has directed us to our most important update yet. What's new? Check latest post on #Steam! store.steampowered.com/news/app/38106… #Indiegame #cat

My closest friendships were formed at 2 AM on a Discord call, trying to figure out how to win a game we were losing or take down a seemingly unbeatable endboss. There is a common mistake in gaming: the idea that you build community by encouraging conversations. But in gaming, conversation is the byproduct; competition is the catalyst. The most authentic bonds are formed through shared struggle or experience. When you have a common goal, a scoreboard to climb up on or a challenge to defeat, you don't need social features to force a connection, the connection happens naturally. The problem is that many try to build community from the top down. This is the problem we are trying to solve with @elo_collective, as we look at it differently. We believe the tool's job is to facilitate all layers, starting from the bottom up. It should help you find the right teammates who challenge you, track the rivalries that push you, and celebrate the wins. It's time to stop designing for engagement and start designing for participation. Community isn't built by talking, it’s built by doing something.

Competition drives evolution. It is one of the most fundamental forces in human behaviour, and it shows up in gaming more clearly than almost anywhere else. Players compete not because games tell them to, but because the instinct is hardwired in all of us. Progress feels more meaningful when you earn it and communities feel tighter when they’re built around shared struggle. And that is why competition matters for games. Not because you want esports because it's the next hot thing (or was), not because you need tournaments, but because competition gives players a reason to return, a reason to improve, a reason to care and a reason to stay. Competition turns mechanics into mastery and matches into rivalries. This is where the real opportunities lie for esports. The numbers tell the same story; Players inside competitive systems show 20-40 percent higher long-term retention. They spend 30–50 percent more time and money, increasing lifetime value without relying on constant content drops. We talk endlessly about “community” in this industry, but most communities didn’t form because of social features. They formed because players had something worth competing for. It gives structure, meaning and momentum to a game. If you're interested in embracing your competitive spirit and build a game people care about, @elo_collective can help build the competition that is right for your game, from activities on Discord, to full blown competitive programs.

Esports gets criticised a lot, including (and maybe especially?) by yours truly. The formats don't make sense, publishers control everything, teams burning through VC money, and the lack of incentives to fix structural issues. But while the top layer of the industry may struggle, there is some real work being done at the bottom. Some of the most interesting innovation in esports never comes from those holding the big purses, but those in constrained environment where practical solutions to real problems are being built. So, here's celebrating some of the best tech solutions born from the esports community: @GRIDesports for building the data infrastructure, adding an additional monetizable layer to esports' stakeholders. @ShikensoMedia for figuring out how to quantify esports sponsorship values, doing so well that their tech is now being applied to various other industries. @zenostech for building a new layer for broadcasts by rendering 3D game twins in Unreal Engine, creating a whole new experience that is true to gaming. @skybox for creating a 3D training and analysis layer for CS, giving coaches the tools they need. These are some of the companies that did not sit still and wait for someone to come up with a solution. They built from the bottom up, inside the community, solving actual pain points. For all the frustration around esports, there are some real lean, resilient companies being built in our ecosystem, which are worthy of being celebrated. This is deeply engrained in our belief with @elo_collective that real innovation in gaming comes from the community. Real solutions rarely come from those who benefit from the status quo, but emerge from the ones who are affected by restraint each day. If esports is going to move forward, it will be because of this layer, because of the companies and people that keep experimenting and tackling real problems.

@HaZ_Dulull 👀

@elo_collective Who is gonna beat me and my Cat? ;)

Our friend @HaZ_Dulull has released Astro Burn into early access! It's a side scrolling retro cute-em-up, taking it back to the golden age of gaming. So to give it the arcade flavour, we built a leaderboard for it, linking it to Discord to show high scores! Try it now!

@HaZ_Dulull store.steampowered.com/app/3810660/As…

Managing a large discord server, so much so that it’s becoming difficult to keep track of or understand how to improve? Looking for testers for a product that may make your life easier!

ELO has a new team member, as we welcome no one less than @joosterizer as Advisor for Gaming & Insights, a crucial addition providing data-driven insights in Community Empowerment! Read more on @PocketGamer: pocketgamer.biz/venture-studio…

Land on your feet, get your friends team up in co-op and prove that two cats are better than one. 👉 Head over to Steam to download the demo today! store.steampowered.com/app/4048530/As…

The Astro Burn Demo is now live! A purr-fect announcement. From where we sit it is fair to say that retro gaming is truly back! It has been a long time coming, but ELO are proud to announce that Beyond The Pixels have launched the demo to their first title Astro Burn.

Dive into the game with Astro’s nine lives, taking on each level from today - with the games launch on Steam and PC! From next week the game will launch on web browsers (mobile). Be prepared to claw your way through enemies.

@elo_collective Let's go!

The future of entertainment is in transmedia, with games at the center of new IP. Beyond The Pixels is leading the way and we are joining forces to build the future, starting with their first game, Astro Burn! store.steampowered.com/app/3810660/As…

Read more about our partnership, and an interview with BTP Founder HaZ on @GamesBeat: gamesbeat.com/haz-dululls-be…

I’ll be attending the @ngsc_sa this weekend. Shoot me a message if you want to chat esports, community or ventures. #NGSC2025

@dc_web31 @HLTVorg

@elo_collective @HLTVorg Brilliant initiative 🙌

The legendary @HLTVorg Hall of Fame has an in-game home in Counter-Strike! On behalf of our partner, Crocbyte Studios, ELO approached HLTV with the idea of celebrating their hall of famers by giving the community a way to recreate their legendary plays.

You can’t win every match, but you can blame your teammates every time

I just came to say ELO! #XBorg