The Video Game Entertainment and News Network (or VENN) has announced a couple of further shows and hosts joining the August 5th launch of the “live 24/7 network for gaming, streaming, esports and entertainment audiences.” In case you missed it, VENN announced its first content slate earlier this month. The additional shows coming to the network are Grey Area and The Download, which are shows about intimate conversations with friends and experts about anything and everything and daily news deep dives, respectively.
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Grey Area will specifically be hosted by Sasha Grey and Jon Park while The Download will feature a panel of Emma Fyfe, Erin Ashley Simon, Matt Morello, Jimmy Wong, and Daniel Gonzales. Additionally, VENN revealed that VENN Arcade Live will feature Emily Mei, Tehya Johns, and Gonzales as hosts alongside the previously announced James “Dash” Patterson.
“VENN is a place where talent and creators can let their imaginations run wild. It’s our job to help them realize their vision,” said Viranda Tantula, VENN Executive Creative Director, as part of today’s announcement. “VENN was built to be a talent first network – a welcoming home for gamers, streamers, and creators of all genres, backgrounds, and passions. We’re inspired by a love of content, craft, and culture – a love we share with the talent who are joining us. We hope our audience feels that energy.”
VENN also today announced a partnership with Proximity to co-produce and develop original programming and music content. Bernie Su (co-creator of Artificial for Twitch) has also signed a development deal to create interactive shows with VENN. What either of those deals might look like in practice remains to be seen.
Previously announced launch shows for the network more specifically include the aforementioned VENN Arcade Live, a daily variety show; Dare Package, an unboxing challenge show hosted by @AustinOnTwitter; Guest House, a two-hour CYOA-style stream hosted by @ChrissyConstanza where guests can seemingly do as they like with the backing of a production team; The SushiDragon Show, a “variety, talk, performance and interactivity rolled into a bananas performance featuring musicians, artists and creators” hosted by @TheSushiDragon; and Looking for Gains, an interactive fitness show hosted by @CashNasty.
VENN is set to launch on August 5th from a studio in Playa Vista, California. A new flagship studio is expected to open in New York next year. Exactly how VENN will be watched is still a little confusing, but Twitch and YouTube have been mentioned by name, and the company claims that it will be “distributed across a broad range of soon to be announced media platforms, including streaming services, social, cable, satellite and OTT.” You can check out our previous coverage of VENN right here.
What do you think of what we’ve heard about VENN so far? Are you excited about the newly revealed shows? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!
