The esports industry, for many, seems to have appeared overnight – at least in the mainstream. It tallied $892.8 million in revenues in 2016 with over 213.8 million spectators watching the competitive gaming tournaments and matches. That’s coming from market researcher SuperData, which estimate that the industry will surpass the $1 billion dollar mark by 2018 and reach a global audience of 303 million by 2019. Asia leads, but North America and Europe follow closely.
A few years ago, you may have noticed some frowns and criticisms, at least in western countries, about the societal consequences of promoting this level and intensity of gaming, particularly on youth. But the landscape has evolved beyond that narrow-minded concern and the market appears to have accepted the reality that competitive gaming is here not only to stay, but thrive. The narrative has changed.
“Traditionally, a lot of formal research took a negative stance on gaming and looked at behaviors such as addiction and social isolation,” Dan Himmelstein, founder and “brain coach” at Premier eSports Academy, told me. “However, we are now seeing studies looking at how to best influence optimal performance in esports, increased cognitive functions correlated with gaming, and positive effects on mental health.”
One factor for why esports is going through a growth spurt is the synergy that comes from sitting at multiple intersections. One is the convergence of video, live events, and games. Another is the interplay between the players, game publishers, and broadcasters. And it looks like the next one might very well be the compounding impact that emerging tech like AR, VR, and 5G will have on enhancing, and maybe even transforming, the spectator experience. We already see a glimmer of this with the $6.2 million Sliver.tv raised last summer for its immersive virtual reality platform.
When asked I asked Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL at Turtle Entertainment, what he saw on the horizon for the industry in 2017, he said: “Bigger and better competitions and events with continuously expanding viewership breaking into new channels. Global and local partnerships with media and tech companies like Telefonica, Vivendi and many more to come will facilitate and accelerate that growth. Every sport in history has been built with media companies together and these type of coops will accelerate the growth of esports.”
Quite a bit of this success is owed to the game creators and publishers who clearly recognized the writing on the wall on how effective competitive gaming is to enriching the bottom line. It increases player engagement, lengthens the longevity of gaming titles, expands the field of franchise awareness, and compounds monetization potential in multiple directions that are continually being optimized and expanded.
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