SportsHero Adds 400 Games via Playades Deal, Expands Library Past 1000 Titles
SportsHero (ASX: SHO) has signed a content licensing agreement with Playades for the distribution of over 400 HTML5 mobile games across South East Asia. The SportsHero Playades HeroPlay game deal expands the platform’s catalogue to more than 1,000 playable titles, with integration commencing immediately and games rolling out to subscribers from May. Licensing has been secured across all four target markets: Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand.
SportsHero secures Playades deal, adds 400+ games to HeroPlay catalogue
The agreement with Playades brings +400 new titles to HeroPlay’s subscription gaming platform, taking the total catalogue past 1,000 games available to users across South East Asia. Integration of the new mobile games will commence immediately, with titles progressively becoming available to HeroPlay customers from May 2026.
Game licensing has been secured for all four key target countries (Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand), allowing SportsHero to roll out the HeroPlay product across those markets seamlessly. The deal materially strengthens HeroPlay’s content proposition ahead of the platform’s regional expansion, providing the library depth needed to compete for subscriber attention in mobile-first markets.
The games portfolio includes a series of football titles, which SportsHero will promote for the next City Battle marketing campaign scheduled to kick off in May, leading up to the FIFA World Cup 2026.
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Globally recognised titles anchor the expanded catalogue
The Playades catalogue brings several marquee franchises to HeroPlay, delivered in download-free HTML5 format that removes device storage barriers for South East Asian users. These titles span multiple genres, broadening demographic appeal across action, sports, puzzle and strategy categories.
Globally recognised titles now accessible via HeroPlay subscription include:
- Temple Run 2: Surpassed 1 billion downloads globally
- Flappy Bird: Reached 90 million downloads at peak popularity
- Doodle God: Amassed over 190 million players worldwide
- eFootball Storm Strike Challenge
- Penalty Rivals
The addition of these established gaming franchises reduces marketing friction and may accelerate subscriber adoption by offering titles users already recognise and trust. By delivering these games as HTML5 titles, HeroPlay removes the device and storage barriers associated with native app downloads, making popular gaming content accessible to the widest possible audience across the region.
What is HTML5 gaming and why it matters in SE Asia
HTML5 games run directly in mobile browsers without requiring app downloads or device installation. Users access the content through a web interface, eliminating the storage constraints that affect budget smartphone users in emerging markets.
This technical format choice directly addresses infrastructure realities in South East Asia, where many consumers operate on prepaid mobile plans with limited device storage capacity. By removing the barrier of large app downloads, HTML5 gaming lowers friction in the conversion process, supporting higher subscriber acquisition rates among mobile-first consumers.
The format aligns with SportsHero’s broader strategy of targeting South East Asia’s mobile-dominant consumer base, where Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) through telco partnerships provides seamless payment infrastructure.
FIFA World Cup 2026 provides marketing catalyst
The new football games from Playades will anchor the next City Battle marketing campaign launching in May, with timing aligned to the FIFA World Cup 2026 running from 11 June to 19 July 2026. SportsHero has spent the last six years building a football community in Indonesia through OlahBola, its proprietary football media platform with established audience reach.
OlahBola is a fully localised international football app launched in Indonesia with international reach. The platform has accumulated approximately 2.3 million subscribers and followers across all social channels, with 1.7 million followers on TikTok alone. This positions OlahBola as one of Indonesia’s most influential football media voices.
OlahBola has been ranked among the Top 5 Most Influential Sports Agencies in Indonesia under the Sports Media category, alongside Persib (a top football club from Bandung), Timnas Indonesia (Indonesia’s national football team), Indosiar (official broadcaster of top tier Liga 1), and Vidio. The platform was selected as an Official TikTok Media Partner to cover the SE Asia Games 2025 (Thailand) event.
Due to their established relationship with PSSI (Football Association of Indonesia), SportsHero employees working on the platform are regularly invited to official football federation events as recognised media. Management believe this reflects the credibility OlahBola has earned within Indonesia’s official football ecosystem.
Tom Lapping, CEO
“Adding over 400 games to the catalogue from Playades means gamers can now access more than 1,000 games with a single subscription, either through their Indosat mobile phone bill or directly via SportsHero’s payment gateway. With the new football games, we can leverage our long history of fan engagement from our OlahBola platform, as we head into the FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament which starts in June.”
The World Cup timing creates a natural promotional hook for football-themed content, whilst OlahBola’s established community provides an owned marketing channel to drive subscriber acquisition without incremental advertising spend. This audience will be activated directly as part of the City Battle Football engagement strategy leading up to the tournament.
Subscriber growth accelerates with 48% month-on-month increase
Daily subscriber sign-up numbers continued to climb throughout March as Indosat scaled up its full marketing support. The latest metrics demonstrate sustained growth momentum, with SportsHero’s direct marketing spend remaining steady to isolate Indosat’s contribution.
| Metric | Previous (February) | Current (March) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7-day average sign-ups | 2,049/day | 3,032/day | +48% |
| Single-day record | 2,453 | 3,238 | +32% |
Following the initial phase of the Indosat marketing partnership, management has commenced testing incrementally higher direct marketing spend to understand the impact on subscriber acquisition and the return on advertising spend (ROAS) of the direct marketing model. Results from this testing will be used to determine the next steps for direct marketing in the Indonesian market and to establish a benchmark for future direct marketing activity as the Company expands HeroPlay across South East Asia.
The sustained growth trajectory validates the Indosat partnership model and suggests HeroPlay has achieved early product-market fit in Indonesia ahead of multi-country expansion. With feature games being jointly promoted by Indosat and SportsHero each quarter as part of a continuous City Battle marketing rotation, the expanded catalogue provides fresh content to support ongoing engagement campaigns.
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Deal terms and commercial outlook
The agreement with Playades involves a fixed monthly licensing fee that is not material from SportsHero’s perspective and does not include any major variable commissions or other initial costs. The confidential agreement is for 12 months and will rollover year on year unless either party gives 90 days notice to terminate the agreement.
Payment terms will commence with the delivery of games to a fully live and working SportsHero casual gaming subscription product, or after three months of the execution of the agreement, whichever is earlier. No revenue with respect to the games will be generated until the platform goes live with these titles. The Company is therefore not currently able to ascertain the commercial impact of this agreement.
The fixed-fee structure provides cost certainty whilst the non-material fee level suggests favourable terms for SportsHero as it scales content without proportional cost increases. The 12-month term with annual rollover provisions offers flexibility as the platform expands across multiple markets in the region.
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