App revolution in the professional wrestling world! Secret story and passion revealed by the producer of "Wrestle Universe" <above>

Noah's fierce battle (photo courtesy, professional wrestling, Noah)

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The professional wrestling business company "CyberFight" operated by the major IT company "CyberAgent" has started to provide the official application of the professional wrestling video distribution service "WRESTLE UNIVERSE". "Cyber ​​Fight" operates four groups: DDT Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah, Tokyo Women's Wrestling, and Ganbare Pro Wrestling. With the video app, which will be an epoch-making introduction in the domestic professional wrestling world, it has become easier to watch high-quality, bilingual content in both Japanese and English provided since the browser version was renewed in October last year. Supports Chromecast as a new function. By connecting the video played on the app, it has become possible to play it on a large TV monitor. In addition, with the live distribution viewing reservation function, notifications will be sent from the app when the distribution starts, so you can watch without missing it. In addition, the viewing experience has been improved, such as page switching by flicking, skipping by double tapping during video playback, and full screen switching. In "WEB Hochi", we interviewed producer Naruaki Nagasawa (31) who belongs to the DX headquarters of "CyberFight" that produced this official app. "App revolution in the professional wrestling world! The secret story and passion revealed by the producer of" Wrestle Universe "" The secret story of the development of this app, and the passion for professional wrestling, etc. Serialized for days in a row. The first is "WRESTLE UNIVERSE Renewal Secret Story". (Interview / Composition Takahiro Fukudome) A video app that allows you to watch match videos on your smartphone anytime, anywhere. In order to introduce innovative functions such as high image quality and bilingual broadcasting, the video distribution service "Wrestle Universe" was first renewed. The name of "Wrestle Universe" was changed on May 12, 2020, which was the predecessor of "DDT Universe", which originally distributed DDT games, and it is now possible to watch games of groups under the umbrella of Noah, Tokyo Girls, etc. rice field. Nagasawa reveals why the renewal was necessary. "At CyberAgent, in addition to the trend of working on DX (digital transformation) of medical and retail, we are also focusing on DX of entertainment, and from there there was a movement to promote DX of professional wrestling. In the midst of the trend, the former Wrestle Universe has also started renewal so that it can be seen from anywhere in the world for "DX conversion of professional wrestling". In the future, DX will be expanded to strengthen not only the Wrestle Universe but also the official website as a whole. ”The renewal project started in April last year. The members are about 5 people, mainly server engineers, front engineers, and designers, led by Nagasawa. Nagasawa is 31 years old, and although some app designers are older, the team is full of youth, mainly 25-26 years old. Armed with this youth, the transition to renewal will be carried out at an exceptional speed. Two months later, in June, the web and video distribution was recreated, and only the video distribution part was provided in advance from the Cyber ​​Fight Festival. Full-scale release of web renewal project in October. A free campaign was held to transfer members from the former Wrestle Universe. "Usually it takes about a year to release, but in the fall there was a big match with Noah's N-1 and Tokyo Women's Ota Ward General Gymnasium, so after the project started to match this timing It was released in 6 months. ”There are three highlights in the renewal. "First of all, quality improvement. Quality is mainly about the image quality of the video, but this was not the top in the industry. So I made the image quality the best. Next is overseas expansion. Original The service did not have a function to switch between bilingual audio commentary so that foreigners could hear the English commentary. It was realized by recreating all of this. At the end, I focused on creativity. This changed a lot of thumbnails and creative parts. For example, until now, we only lined up match cards, but now we have big players like movie posters. I think that it is a movement that is trying to realize creative that was not in the domestic professional wrestling industry until now. " It was a good service. The renewal project is proceeding smoothly, and the number of members has been steadily increasing to date. However, Nagasawa did not stop here. The next goal was the app. "It was renewed in October, and the English support was also evaluated. However, we need to improve the viewing experience even more. For that, we had to do the app. So much in the professional wrestling industry. I don't think there is any other app that has improved the viewing experience. "Nagasawa began to talk about his thoughts on the app. (Continued, title omitted)

Hochi Shimbun