Highlights

  • SportsHero Limited (ASX:SHO) has secured a telco Partnership that adds a new country to its footprint.
  • The agreement is structured so that Revenue depends on actual customer subscriptions.
  • The company has put Forward Market data on how Malaysia compares with its existing territories.
  • A launch window has been indicated for later this year.

SportsHero Limited (ASX:SHO) has announced a partnership with MAXIS, one of Malaysia's largest telecommunications providers, to offer its HeroPlay gaming platform to customers in Malaysia. The arrangement adds a new market to the Sydney-headquartered company's Southeast Asian presence, which already includes Indonesia and the Philippines. The company has indicated that the service is targeted to launch in the December quarter of 2026, with subscriptions billed through direct carrier billing. This article outlines the commercial terms disclosed, the market statistics the company has cited, and the way management has described the role of the partnership within its broader HeroPlay Gaming Universe strategy.

The MAXIS Agreement and Its Terms

MAXIS was established in 1993 and, according to the announcement, has 10.8 million accounts. The company cited 9.93 million mobile subscribers as at May 2026 and 807,000 home broadband subscribers. Under the partnership, HeroPlay will be made available to MAXIS customers, with revenue shared on a 65 per cent basis to SportsHero and 35 per cent to MAXIS.

A notable feature of the structure is that there are no minimum subscription requirements and no guaranteed payments. Revenue will therefore depend on the number of actual subscriptions generated through Direct Carrier Billing, a method that allows a subscriber to pay through their existing mobile account rather than a separate payment card. The company has indicated a December quarter 2026 launch, so the commercial outcome will only become visible after the service has gone live and subscriber activity can be observed.

Malaysia Market Data Cited by the Company

SportsHero provided a series of statistics to frame the Malaysian opportunity. Mobile use among people aged 15 and over was cited at 99.6 per cent, internet use at 98.3 per cent and household internet access at 97.1 per cent. The country's gaming market was cited at US$1.1 billion in 2025, with projected annual growth of 8.04 per cent through 2034.

The announcement also draws a comparison on pricing. Malaysian subscription pricing is described as 2.6 to 3.2 times Indonesian pricing, and the company noted that Malaysia's GDP Per Capita is 2.6 times that of Indonesia and 3.1 times that of the Philippines. These are contextual indicators supplied by the company rather than revenue forecasts. Readers should note that higher pricing potential does not by itself determine subscriber numbers, which will depend on uptake once the service is available to MAXIS customers.

Building the HeroPlay Gaming Universe

With the addition of MAXIS, SportsHero said it will have partnerships with four major telcos across three Southeast Asian countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The company estimates this gives access to approximately 236 million customer accounts. Access to an account base is not the same as active subscribers, and the announcement makes clear that revenue is tied to actual subscriptions.

Chief Executive Officer Tom Lapping described the agreement as another platform that allows the company to expand its presence across Southeast Asia, as it continues to build the HeroPlay Gaming Universe. The telco-led distribution approach relies on partners to place the product in front of large customer bases and to handle billing. For a mobile gaming business, that route can reduce the need for separate payment infrastructure in each market, although the commercial result remains linked to how customers respond.

Key Takeaways

The MAXIS partnership extends SportsHero Limited (ASX:SHO) into Malaysia through a telco distribution model, with a 65 per cent and 35 per cent revenue share and a launch indicated for the December quarter of 2026. The agreement carries no minimum subscriptions or guaranteed payments, so revenue will depend on actual uptake via Direct Carrier Billing. The company has cited market data on connectivity, pricing and gaming growth in Malaysia, and an estimated 236 million accessible customer accounts across its four telco partners. Investors and readers following the company may wish to watch for launch confirmation and any subsequent subscriber disclosures from SportsHero.