L-A Times Owner: Video Games The Key To News Engagement

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong

The billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times is focusing on reviving the Fourth Estate on the West Coast, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong is turning to an unlikely ally, one which he believes will be central to real news engagement: video games.

Soon-Shiong’s NantWorks holding company announced an investment in Daybreak Game Company, which will see Soon-Shiong take a controlling stake in the popular H1Z1 game, a one-player-versus-all predecessor to the breakaway hit Fortnite. The investment will also lead to development of mobile versions of Daybreak games, as well as a “next generation game publishing platform.”

Speaking to The Washington Post, Soon-Shiong said he sees the investment as part of an ambitious strategy to both combat fake news and shore up the Times’s position among young people and sports fans across the nation.

Recognizing that most young people get their news from social networks and other digital sources, Soon-Shiong wants to spread the footprint of his company’s reporting on platforms where this audience already spends its time.

“The most evolved engagement engine is video gaming, Fortnite . . . the Millennials, across Twitch, interconnect and communicate,” said Soon-Shiong.

“We could take an engine like this and find a way to enhance a different form of social network, and games add an element of storytelling,” he said.

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