GamesMaster teams with Scuti on reality show for gamers

Peach Maria Productions, the maker of GameMaster, has teamed up with Scuti to provide rewards for viewers of an interesting new reality show for gamers.

Scuti has created a gamer’s marketplace and a “gCommerce” platform where players can earn reward points through engagement with a game or, in this case, a show, and then spend those reward points in a marketplace full of physical or digital gamer goods.

Atlanta, Georgia-based Peach Maria Productions is creating the upcoming video series GameMaster. Hosted by actor Wil Wheaton. The show will depict 12 up-and-comer amateur creators and skilled gamers in an American Idol-like talent show where they compete for a $1 million cash prize, said Laurie Lockliear, executive producer of the show, in an interview with GamesBeat.

“We’re bringing 12 gamers to live in a mansion and compete against each other,” Lockliear said. “By the end of it, after 25 games in nine different gaming genres, we’ll find out who the best gamer or streamer in America really is.”

GameMaster is the first unscripted competition show of its kind. The twelve gamers will compete in more than two dozen games across eight genres and gaming systems. After each week, one of the gamers will be sent home until there is just one winner.

More than 50,000 streamers and social media influencers will follow along, share exclusive content and engage their followers in quests and contests. The live finale (Episode 10) promises to be a spectacular event, Lockliear said.

GameMaster, will engage fans with Scuti interoperable rewards that can be used to purchase digital items in games featured on the show, as well as any game connected to the Scuti platform. The season one GameMaster will take the cash prize and a major contract with a top talent agency, and fans will unlock Scuti rewards.

Scuti’s engagement extends beyond the episodes and into daily rewards for the audience. Scuti$ rewards can be used to purchase in-game items, licensed GameMaster products and hundreds of other products in Scuti’s gCommerce marketplace, accessible through an extensive network of participating games. However, gamers can’t take the Scuti$ rewards and sell them to others or convert them into cash.

“GameMaster and Scuti are both for gamers and gaming fans,” Lockliear said. “Every partnership we create has to be a benefit to our audience, and Scuti rewards are a great benefit.”

Scuti allows gamers to purchase curated products directly from their games’ lobby or main menu. With every purchase, players earn up to 5% of the retail price back in the form of Scuti$ rewards.

“We’re gonna give a bunch of rewards,” Longano said. “What I’m liking is that you get rewarded with each episode. So I got a reward. So let’s say about 3000 Scuti$ for episode one. I want to give you more rewards for watching the later episodes. So you’re collecting Scuti$.”

You can use those Scuti$ to buy items in games (which collectively have about 97 million users). You can buy things across a bunch of different games. You can share your Scuti$ with other people but you’re using them within the Scuti ecosystem and not cashing them out, he said.

Scuti$ are interoperable across all game experiences and devices. Players can earn and spend Scuti$ across any connected experiences.

“The GameMaster team is creating the next cultural phenomenon to appeal to an enormous global gaming audience,” said Nicholas Longano, Scuti CEO. “Scuti is excited to offer audiences the world over,
with Scuti$ rewards to fuel their game experience. GameMaster engages audiences with exciting content and rewards their game experiences using our interoperable system. We will carry all GameMaster licensed products, which will be available for players to purchase directly from their game lobby through the Scuti marketplace. GameMaster is creating a connected ecosystem through Streaming, influencers, and through Scuti, benefiting audiences, players, game makers, and brands alike. This is indeed a game-changer.”

Lockliear said the show has 160 licensed partner products that will be associated with the show, and players can buy some of these on Scuti with the rewards that they earn for watching the show. Some of the licensed products will appear as product placements in the show.

“GameMaster has the support and kindness factor of the Great British Baking Show, but instead of a tent they live in a giant mansion and really have more of the attitude of Deadpool,” Lockliear said.

The show will get support on social through 50,000 “micro influencers” with a collective reach of around 264 million people. Those (paid) influencers will have contests where they give away things and hold watch parties.

The show will air on an unnamed streaming service in five countries. It will air this spring.

“These folks want to be the next Ninja or Pokimane,” Lockliear said. “We think of this as the Idol for gamers. They have great personalities. We reward our audience. We believe that gamers like games and they want rewards. We engage them with Scuti$.”

Longano said he wants Scuti$ to be accepted everywhere in the gaming universe, and if you buy something, you’ll get Scuti$ back in the form of rewards.

Howard Beech, head of partnerships and integrations lead at Peach Maria Productions, said in an interview that Lockliear had no trouble selling the idea to a major streaming service without any footage. The show will be produced in Atlanta.

Most recently, Peach Maria Productions produced the SXSW Game Awards. The team has experience with unscripted shows like The Bachelor, Extreme Home Makerover and The Amazing Race.

“What impressed me about Lori and the team is it’s very rare to find folks that come from the television world or the film world who really understand gamers and really how to approach them,” Longano said.