HeroPlay Gaming Universe soft launch delivers 9,322 new registered users
SportsHero debuted its HeroPlay Gaming Universe over the weekend, timed to the MLBB MPL Indonesia Season 18 Playoffs (4-8 November), which the company describes as one of Indonesia’s most watched gaming events of the year. The soft launch attracted 9,322 new registered users over five days.
That equates to a site visit-to-registration conversion rate of 11.6%, which the company says is in the top 10% based on industry benchmarks.
The scope was deliberately narrow: one event, one game title and one product. It ran without integrated Direct Carrier Billing, so the results came from a stripped-back test of the platform’s robustness and the multi-channel acquisition model.
Headline numbers from the five days:
- 80,000+ site visits
- 215,000+ page views
- No technical issues or interruptions
Tom Lapping, Chief Executive Officer
“The successful soft launch of the HeroPlay Gaming Universe is an exciting achievement, validating all our key metrics. With just one game title and one product voucher, we attracted 9,322 new registered users in five days…”
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Four tests the soft launch set out to validate
SportsHero ran the soft launch as a five-day proof-of-concept campaign. Management believe all four key tests were successfully validated:
- Will gamers move to a new platform? The platform recorded 80,220 sessions, with community and partner referrals driving 68% of consumer sessions.
- Will gamers claim a gift? 3,728 users, or ~40% of registered users, redeemed an in-game gift, despite being required to enter their unique gamer ID.
- Will they buy other products? More than ~600 purchases were attempted at an average value of ~A$6.69. “Insufficient funds” was the main reason for cart abandonment, the friction Direct Carrier Billing is designed to reduce.
- How well does organic traffic convert? Organic conversion reached 13.3% visit-to-signup in the first days of the campaign, with 84% of those users claiming a gift and 80% of them redeeming it.
The company said the campaign also provided metrics to help guide its strategy with telco partners in SE Asia and beyond.
Full gaming market opportunity: what comes next for HeroPlay
The next phase is integration of an expanded range of products over the coming weeks, adding new categories from existing supplier partners. Once integrated, the HeroPlay Gaming Universe will contain thousands of products, including gaming top-up vouchers, ePINs, direct-to-consumer webshops, in-app purchases and global payment capabilities.
SportsHero says this broadens its revenue opportunities to include up to 100% of the full gaming market opportunity. The company has released an investor-focused product teaser video, and describes the expanded platform as a significant opportunity for SportsHero and its Telco partners.
Because of the architecture of its central API connected HeroPlay hub, additional supplier content and products are expected to be added quickly as new partnership agreements are put in place. The supplier and commerce partnerships create opportunities across vouchers, digital goods, webstores, in-app purchases, in-app advertising and payments platforms.
A single Giftery.Pro API integration has already brought more than 5,000 products from over 100 brand partners, including Xbox, Netflix and Spotify, into the HeroPlay Global Store on commission-only terms.
Market size snapshot
The global gaming industry is estimated to be worth approximately US$205 billion, with around 3.6 billion gamers worldwide. The figures below are 2025 industry estimates (Newzoo, Sensor Tower, Statista).
| Segment | Estimated value | Share of global spend |
|---|---|---|
| In-app purchases | US$103 billion | 50.2% |
| In-app advertising | US$62 billion | 30.2% |
| Vouchers and gift cards | US$22 billion | 10.7% |
| Gaming subscriptions | US$13 billion | 6.3% |
What happens next for SportsHero
Two steps are flagged in the announcement:
- Integration of the expanded range of products, adding new categories from existing supplier partners, will be carried out over the coming weeks, opening the platform to thousands of products.
- SportsHero is bringing its other content supply partners on board, adding thousands of items to HeroPlay in the coming weeks, according to CEO Tom Lapping.
Investors exploring the telco side of the roadmap can read our detailed coverage of the MAXIS partnership, which sets out the 65% revenue share in SportsHero’s favour and the higher planned Malaysian pricing.
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