SportsHero adds Carry1st to its HeroPlay gaming universe
SportsHero has entered into a distribution agreement with Carry1st to offer gaming top-up vouchers and ePINs through its HeroPlay platform. The deal gives the integrated digital gaming and e-Sports business, focused on the South East Asia market, access to a wider catalogue of gaming products.
Carry1st is a mobile games publisher and digital content distributor backed by a marquee investor group, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Sony, BITKRAFT, Google, and Riot Games. Under the agreement, HeroPlay will distribute Carry1st’s catalogue of gaming top-up vouchers and ePINs to its subscriber base across SE Asia.
The partnership marks another step in SportsHero’s stated strategy of building out its HeroPlay Gaming Universe. Materially, it expands the company’s product range and opens additional revenue streams without a fixed cost commitment.
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What the deal delivers, bigger titles and broader choice
Through Carry1st, HeroPlay gains access to a selection of globally popular gaming titles and platform vouchers. The catalogue includes some of the most widely played mobile games in the market, broadening the choice available to consumers.
Titles and vouchers made available through the agreement include:
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Garena Free Fire
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Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
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PUBG Mobile
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PlayStation Store vouchers and more
Tom Lapping, CEO of SportsHero
“This is another significant addition to the HeroPlay Gaming Universe and builds on the work we’ve done so far. Carry1st gives us access to a broader selection of products, including some of the biggest titles in the market, as well as Steam and PlayStation Store vouchers. We’re creating a more comprehensive gaming platform, giving consumers greater choice while opening up additional revenue streams. We’re extremely encouraged by the progress we’re making and the opportunity to keep growing our exposure to the mass-market gaming verticals.”
The addition of recognised titles strengthens HeroPlay’s consumer appeal and its reach into the mass-market gaming segment.
How SportsHero makes money from the agreement
Revenue under the agreement is generated through commission on vouchers sold to consumers. The margin SportsHero retains depends on the sales channel, a distinction worth noting for investors assessing the earnings profile.
| Term | Detail | Investor Implication |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue model | Commission and/or fee on products sold | Earnings scale directly with sales volume |
| Direct channel | SportsHero retains the full margin on sales through its own channel | Higher-margin route to revenue |
| Telco channel | Margin shared with the telco (margins may vary by channel and/or product) | Lower per-sale margin, broader distribution reach |
| Cost commitment | No minimum expenditure, no recurring cost | Capital-light structure with limited fixed downside |
| Revenue trigger | Subject to successful sales through the HeroPlay platform | Upside is performance-dependent |
The structure is low-risk and capital-light, with the potential for upside from sales and no fixed downside cost.
Understanding gaming top-ups and ePINs
Gaming top-up vouchers and ePINs are forms of digital credit used to fund in-game purchases.
This is where HeroPlay’s aggregation strategy becomes relevant. By bringing together multiple suppliers, the platform can offer a broader catalogue, which in turn widens its consumer appeal and creates more opportunities for transactions.
Building out the HeroPlay Gaming Universe
The Carry1st agreement reflects a deliberate strategy of partnering with multiple leading content suppliers to build the broadest possible digital voucher and top-up range. Carry1st joins a growing roster of content partners within a wider ecosystem.
The Carry1st deal follows the same structural template as the Razer supply agreement signed earlier in the quarter, which added over 1,000 digital gaming products to HeroPlay with no minimum expenditure or recurring cost attached.
Components of the HeroPlay Gaming Universe include:
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Subscriptions
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Vouchers and rewards
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Webstores (for example, Razer)
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Mobile casual gaming
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In-app advertising
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In-app purchases
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Content partners, including Carry1st
According to the company, it continues to progress other commercial discussions with gaming publishers, brands, and content providers across multiple product categories, with the intention of further enhancing its range of digital products and services. This signals a scalable platform strategy supported by a pipeline of potential further partnerships.
About Carry1st and what comes next
Carry1st is building the dominant commerce platform for Africa and the Middle East, operating at the intersection of video games, publishing, and fintech. Founded in 2018, the company distributes and monetises games through Pay1st, its proprietary payments solution, and the Carry1st Shop, its online marketplace.
The company has scaled titles including Call of Duty: Mobile, VALORANT, and Mergedom. Its investor backing includes Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Sony, BITKRAFT, Google, and Riot Games.
Looking ahead, SportsHero has stated its intention to keep expanding its digital product range and its exposure to mass-market gaming verticals. Partnering with a well-capitalised, credible global content distributor lends further validation to the company’s HeroPlay platform ambitions.
HeroPlay’s commercial momentum entering this period of partnership expansion was already demonstrable: record quarterly cash receipts of A$539,000 and daily sign-ups tripling to 880 were reported before Indosat’s full marketing launch had activated, underscoring the platform’s organic traction.
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