Rapper Soulja Boy is interested in starting up his own esports franchise, according to TMZ.
Soulja Boy, who recently launched the “SouljaGame Console,” which appeared to be one of several cheap emulator consoles that could be purchased at retailers such as Amazon and Ali Express, is looking to enlist personalities like Ninja for his new endeavor.
During an on-camera interview with TMZ, Soulja Boy said that he and Ninja are “close friends,” noting that the popular “Fortnite” streamer helped to get the rapper verified on Twitch.
“We’re gonna be finding talent, hiring talent,” said Soulja Boy. He added that he’s interested in putting teams together for popular titles like “Fortnite,” “Call of Duty,” “Overwatch,” and “Counter Strike.” The “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” artist knows he has a difficult road ahead of him when it comes to managing and creating such teams, and has provided few details on how this will all come to fruition.
“It was just inspiring for me, so here we are. I’m multitasking, man. Music, tech, everything.”
Soulja Boy’s current electronics and video game console endeavor doesn’t indicate savvy business sense, especially as the SouljaGame Console and the SouljaGame Handheld being sole are both emulation boxes, which come preloaded with over 800 preloaded titles.
With obvious licensing concerns in terms of which games are packaged with the systems and the price markup much higher than what’s currently available via Ali Express or manufacturer Anbernic’s digital storefront, it remains to be seen if Soulja Boy is ready to tackle another facet of the industry that involves professional gaming.