Mainframe flexes its muscles with new eSports series ENDURATHON

The prodco has teamed up with Canadian influencer Nick Eh 30 to develop a new animated series inspired by competitive online gameplay.

Mainframe Studios (Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures) is stepping into the eSports arena with its latest CG-animated project.

The prodco has been developing ENDURATHON: Curse of Darkness, a 10 x 22-minute tween-targeted series concept created by Mainframe president/CCO Michael Hefferon and writer Larry Raskin.

It centers around a group of teenagers in the not-too-distant future competing in the titular tournament, which is streamed to audiences around the world. But unlike eSports in real life, the series’ animated players will compete on physical fields that shapeshift to reflect what they see through their VR headsets.

“It’s not The Hunger Games, where it’s life and death; but it’s similar to traditional sports, where there are always risk factors,” Hefferon tells Kidscreen.

What it does have in common with The Hunger Games is a social-emotional angle, adds Raskin, in that the show’s complex teen relationships will be as key to its storylines as the adrenaline factor. “Everything that happens outside of the tournament competition filters its way into the players’ relationships and the game.”

Though the team initially planned to skew older with the project, Hefferon says they ultimately landed on eight to 14s as the right target audience. While this demo has a solid understanding of eSports and gaming content, they’re also at the right age to be aspiring eSports competitors.

The concept started to take form when Hefferon and Raskin noticed that eSports—despite its rising popularity with today’s tweens and teens—hadn’t been explored much in a longer story-driven format. “We looked at the marketplace and saw there wasn’t any TV for kids that really addressed this world,” Raskin explains.

To attract a solid base of game lovers, Mainframe recruited popular Canadian gamer Nick Eh 30 (Nicholas Amyoony) to play a role in the series both on- and off-screen. He has an audience of 7.7 million on YouTube and 4.3 million on Twitch, and is equally adept at creating family-friendly content as he is at gaming.

“In an early stage, we wanted someone like Nick to not only [bring credibility to the project], but also to be very instrumental in helping to shape the show itself,” Hefferon says, noting that Amyoony has given input on story elements like gameplay and character personalities.

Nick will also be playing an animated version of himself in ENDURATHON, providing commentary during his character’s various quests. Hefferon adds that the plan is to bring more celebrity flair to the series with other real-world gamefluencers. “We are looking to have cameo appearances from some of the top gamers out there that kids really relate to.”

Hefferon, Raskin, Nick Eh 30 and Mainframe SVP of content Gregory Little are executive producing ENDURATHON. And the prodco is currently looking for broadcast/streaming and co-production partners to take the project to the next level.

Source: Sadhana Bharanidharan/kidscreen