Esport,
the next generation of sport entertainment.
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| IEM San Jose venue |
As I type this
article the event called IEM (Intel Extreme Masters) is taking place
in San Jose. This event is a tournament which features teams competing for
a prize pool of 50,000 USD. However, unlike many sporting events,
this one is played on a video game called League of Legends. As to
call it a sporting event may be difficult for some, this kind of
tourney is becoming more and more frequent and extremely popular. And
why is this particular championship important? Intel CEO Brian
Krzanich and the businessman Mark Cuban even took part in it. They
represent a new legitimacy for what has become for many a new source
of entertainment and a financial windfall.
What is esport?
This fairly new
word appeared when competition between gamers gathered momentum and
both public and businesses interest was piqued. It started decades
ago and was shunned at first by many. Today, we can read about it in the
press and investors coming from every spectrum of the business world
want to take part in it. But to put it simply, esport is competition among gamers.
Numbers are more
eloquent than words.
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| League Of Legends Worlds Championship 2015 |
As for the main
events this year: The 2015 League of Legends world championship had a
prize pool of 2,130,000 USD with press coverage from ESPN. It took
place in prestigious venues across Europe such as the SSE Arena
Wembley in London and the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin. More than 27
million people tuned in for this tournament -32 million people
watched last year's'- and millions of people watch this
kind of event worldwide. The event was broadcast around the world.
And those numbers are only for the show, literally.
The most famous
game in esport, League of Legends, an arena-like 5-man team game,
developed by Riot Games in 2009 had a net revenue of over 1 billion
USD from the micro-transactions in game in 2014, and this figure was forecast to double for this fiscal year. Its player base is over
67 million people and 27 million of them play every day.
Huge
organisations take part in it as they own teams, heavily invest in
them and gain free advertising. For example the Samsung Galaxy White
team who won last year's world championship. Sponsors are present
everywhere and are the main source of revenue for pro players outside
tournaments.
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| League of Legends World champions: Team Samsung Galaxy White |
We also see a rise
in the complexity of the interactions between Riot Games, the
organisations and pro players. Lawyers specialised in esport started
to appear as players were abused due to the lack of tangible laws. We
can also witness a a move to reinforce the contracts and rules emitted by
the company. Riot Games has put forward a complex set of rules
regarding competition in the game - offenders are subject to heavy
fines and possible bans or suspensions from official tournaments. It
can be for anti-unsporting behaviour from players, match fixing, withholding revenue from organisations and so on.
Slowly building the
ground for legitimacy and lawful processes to make esport an
official sport is key for many gaming companies and communities
around the world.
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| EDG Gaming House (China) |
Players are also
bought by other teams for hefty sums, transferred to other regions
and are scrutinised by the public.
The PR (Public
Relation) department has become prevalent for all the agents in
esport when it comes to communication.
Journalists,
commentators, analysts, coaches, content creator -all of these are
linked to esport and create a new career incentive for many. We see
the impetus of a new and thrilling world which alienates the
stereotype of the geek living in “mom's basement”. A new sense of
fame and recognition for the abilities to outsmart and outplay opponents
in mind games and dexterity-filled seconds has arisen. It even has
its own disastrous injuries with some players suffering from carpal
tunnel syndrome after over-practising.
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| From left to right: Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, Reporter Kristine Leahy and Businessman Mark Cuban. |
Everyone sees a new form of entertainment hatching, but South-Korea has been leaps
and bounds ahead of everyone for decades. An official organisation is
in charge of national esport, two TV channels are broadcasting games
everyday and it is as much a source of entertainment as a plague due to
the sheer number of the young population addicted to gaming.
Where is esport
heading? What will be the next step and how will it evolve? Nothing
can be sure but as long as the profits are colossal we can foresee a
steady development of esport throughout the world.
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| League Of Legends Worlds Championship 2015 |
Edwin B.
Hi Edwin,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your article. I already knew the gaming business but I did not know how far it was going. I'm quite afraid about the various consequences it could lead to. I mean, isn't it too much money for games? It reminds me of the football business... But I can not deny the fact that this increasing movement is proving to the world that "geek" or "nerd" people who often are discriminated have potential. It is all about strategies and they have to train hard to get to that level. I have no doubt the future of this business is ensured.
Amélie D
Hello Amélie,
DeleteIt is right that money will change everything. For now players move around the globe not to follow their dreams but to follow the highest bidder.
When it comes to esport, it's not just a "game" anymore for a lot of people, as much as footbalm it is not a just bunch of people chasing a ball. Money will provide infrastructure, exposure, which will expand the business far more than just passion.
As for my opinion, I think that passion and dedication will be rewarded anyhow, but money can corrupt such sentiments quite easily. I hope this won't become a heartless cash machine in the future. All we have to do is wait and see.
Edwin B
Hello Edwin,
ReplyDeleteI like this topic very much has I've been following tournaments for years. We call it e"sport" but I know this is a very sensitive topic as people say this doesn't require any particular skill and that it is not a physical activity. If they've been selected by teams I guess they have something special.
What makes keyboard typing and mouse holding a sport ? Do you know if gaming schools are being developed so that tomorrow kids would have the opportunity to study video gaming and make a career in the e-gaming industry?
Thomas C.
Hello Thomas,
DeleteAs far as I know there are schools dedicated to esport opening around the world (mainly in Asia), in which you can study different games and platforms, it also has analytic courses and helps future gamers managing their career as professionals.
Although, those schools still lack legitimacy and it is difficult for someone to enter such schools without any pre-existing skills. And this is where I usually disagree with people saying that you dont need skill to be a professional gamer. It is true that you don't need special abilities to enjoy playing videogames, but to win a $2 million tournament is not in the hands of everyone.
Furthermore, skill only is not required, you need to understand the game, all the tactics available and your opponents. It is essential for every team to possess players with such knowledge to hope reaching the top. Gathering all that need practice, and this is where esport is what we can call a sport: you'll need to practice and understand not only the game in itself but everything revolving around in order to become a professional gamer.
Edwin B.
Hi Edwin ,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, congratulations for your well-written article. It helped me to have a better view on this blurry world that e-sport is. I am stunned by how this sport has evolved throughout the years to become such a business potential. With all this money at stake, I wouldn't be surprised that some players try to cheat.Could you please tell me how e-sports competitions are controlled ? Did some challengers ever cheated by altering computers or software ?
Yannis
Hi Yannis,
ReplyDeleteCheating is and has always been a very sensitive subject in esport. It has happened and will probably happen, like in any other sport.
To prevent that, many tournaments have dozens of referees (behind the players, others monitoring what happens ingame...), they will control every step of the game and if any suspicion arises they can pause the game and investigate right away as they are the conceptors of the game.
Money made the anti-cheating system a sine-qua-non condition for all recent competitions, especially when money and sponsors are involved. It is in the interest of everyone not to tarnish the still very sensitive subject which is esport.
But it is not the panacea, we have witnessed scandals such as match fixing from organisations and it seems inherent to every competition (sporting or not).
Edwin B.
PS: To give an example, a player installed a third party program in a FPS (first person shooter) tournament called CS:GO not too long ago. When it was discovered his team was suspended from participating in any tournaments for years and the player was banned from the game for an unlimited amount of time. Precision is key in FPS game, it was not taken lightly and I think this kind of punishment may deter future cheaters.
DeleteEdwin B.
Its a great pleasure reading your post. It’s full of information I am looking for and I love to post a comment that "The content of your post is awesome" Great work.
ReplyDeleteEsports Tournament Games
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