The eSports or electronic sports are living their golden age. Although this market started out undervalued, it has shown that it can be successful. In fact, many are wondering whether eSports audiences will surpass those of traditional sports. We take a look at some figures and events that demonstrate the potential of the eSports sector.
Technological advances related to the digital industry have enabled new business models. Among them, we find e-sports. We could say that this is a niche market that was taken advantage of at the time. However, it has not been until now that its popularity has really taken off.
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Global audiences for eSports
One of the major differences between eSports and traditional sports is their hearings. Although there are several methods for viewing sports such as basketball and soccer, among others, traditional television predominates in these cases. However, e-sports use their native environment to spread: Internet. Emissions in streaming are available in both cases, but the interaction between player and spectator is unique in eSports. Perhaps, this differential value is what has spread this relatively new sector like wildfire.
Another defining factor of e-sports is the internationalization. Again, to be fair, it should be noted that traditional sports are watched from anywhere in the world. However, content from local or national leagues in other countries is hardly consumed. This does happen in eSports, since there are high quality teams all over the world. Thus, we find Spaniards watching League of Legends games streaming in Korea and Americans enjoying Fornate tournaments in Spain. The globalization of these sports is what has enabled their rapid growth.
How many people consume this content?
If we talk about audiences, we can affirm that both types of sports are in good health. In fact, the World Cup held in Russia this year achieved a 29% screen share, which is more than 3.5 million viewers (on television). Although the data between traditional and online sports are difficult to compare, some games reach one million views per day, combining all streaming channels.
Below, we analyze the audiences of the most popular eSports of the moment. The data refers to the peaks worldwide audience diaries and have been extracted from Gameloco to date, October 18.
Although this data shows the average number of people who have been watching various player channels on these different titles, the numbers change on a daily basis. However, products such as League of Legends, Fortnite, Dota 2 o World of Warcraft are always the order of the day. The new Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII, another battle royale more for the genre, it is also predicted to be a great success.
Major events to boost audiences
The growth of eSports cannot be understood without taking into account the major events that are organized periodically. An example of great importance is the so-called «Worlds»or the League of Legends world championship. The folks at Riot, developers of LoL, has made an interesting proposal this year. To establish the Worlds 2018 prize, they sell a series of cosmetic items in the game itself whose income will add up to swell the reward of the teams that go the farthest in this world cup. And this is just one case of the infinity of interactions we can find in eSports.
Some important events related to other eSports include the Overwatch League or the EVO (fighting/fighting games). In the case of mobile gaming we have the Brilliant Go4ClashRoyale, which is held every Saturday. But these are just three more examples, since there are many, many events at local, national and international level of each online game.
Industry success and controversy
All these opportunities to not only watch, but also to participate in some events, have contributed to energize e-sports. Moreover, if we add to this the fact that some of these video games are free, we understand the success of this emerging sector, since its income is based more on these events and not on in-game purchases.
However, we must not forget the controversial issue of loot boxes or reward boxes, which some countries such as Belgium have already been banned for implicitly inciting gambling. There is also talk of addiction to this type of video games, since they require a great investment of time.
In conclusion, eSports are here to stay and have generated new and lucrative businesses. One example of success is that of Ocelote, a former League of Legends player. The professional knew how to seize the opportunity after retiring and created his own team, G2. All this shows that opportunities exist in this world. It is just a matter of both companies and professionals taking advantage of them.