Live Tech Games released the news that its popular nationwide live mobile tournament game – Roshambo Live – has been selected by ITV’s newly created Studio 55 Ventures arm (launched in September 2020).  Roshambo is a live mobile gaming experience – a  head-to-head tournament of Rock Paper Scissors –  that has quietly been taking the country by storm with thousands of players participating in open beta. At the same time, co-founders Nathan Moore and Samuel Worsley started discussions with ITV’s investment arm Studio 55 Ventures which led to a final presentation to the ITV board including ITV CEO Dame Carolyn McCall.

As one of the first businesses that ITV has selected, Roshambo Live will now enter into the next phase of development, working on turning the mobile game into a Roshambo Live ITV show that can be either a stand-alone show or an extension to an existing TV show.

A significant cash injection will help fund technical development, while ITV mentors will work with the Live Tech Games team bringing internal ITV resources in where needed.

When Studio 55 Ventures was announced, ITV’s CEO Dame Carolyn McCall said that its investments would deliver ITV’s strategy of transforming it into a digitally-led media and entertainment company and that it was “investing in people with the passion, vision and drive to ensure ITV remains relevant to younger generations whilst giving us insights into how to evolve in the future”.

Ultimately, if the pilot is successful, Live Tech Games would be one of a small number of businesses in which ITV will materially invest and scale, with members of the successful teams invited to join ITV full time.

“From the very start of the process it was obvious that the synergies between our two companies truly resonate at a strategic level,” said Nathan Moore Co-Founder of Live Tech Games. “Entertainment spans way beyond the television set and is now mostly on mobile. This is exactly why ITV set up the Studio 55 programme; to invest in the best tech ideas that will ensure it remains at the forefront of digital entertainment. With mobile games playing such a fundamental role in the future of entertainment and ITV being famous for captivating live audiences, our partnership seamlessly delivers on this strategic objective,” adds Moore.

ITV continues to capture the live audiences with its hit shows and now Live Tech Games will ensure ITV can host fully interactive second screen entertainment. The pilot will focus on giving ITV’s viewers the opportunity to play along in fun, simple live tournaments, where they go head-to-head against other people across the country in addictive games for the chance to win free prizes.

“Commercially, this unlocks new sponsorship opportunities, attracts new audiences and supports ITV’s advanced advertising strategy by accelerating their addressable advertising capabilities,” said Samuel Worsley, Co-Founder of Live Tech Games.” Following a successful pilot, we have huge plans for new games – all utilising our Live Tech Games platform and live gaming engine that we’ve spent the past 18 months developing. We will continue to make super simple, yet highly addictive games, which enable our players to go head-to-head against each other, for free, to win exciting prizes.”

Roshambo Live is the perfect starting point – Rock Paper Scissors is one of the world’s favourite games, recognised worldwide wide, it’s the game that everyone knows regardless of where they are or how old they are. The strategic partnership between Live Tech Games and ITV to bring live mobile games to mass audiences is a smart move as live entertainment is accessed across multiple digital platforms: utilising the latest technological innovations and taking playful experiences beyond games.