from Gaming & Leisure Magazine
Winter 2019/2020
For those of us in the gaming industry, we have seen a steady growth in esports participation and viewership in recent years, noting that the trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The growth hasn’t been limited to just the dedicated esports athletes, but also in the number of casual viewers. This upward trend is a result of increasing awareness of esports and ease of access to the internet.
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| Gaming & Leisure Magazine Winter 2018/2019 |
One of the effects of this growth is a resulting increase in esport tournament participation, fueled in part by prize money and player earnings. In 2017, the total prize money for 4166 tournaments was more than $1.1 billion, with the mean tournament prize pool around $27,500. For 2018 the total prize money increased to more than $1.5 billion with the mean tournament prize pool almost doubling to nearly $44,000.
Of the global markets, Asia has played a leading role in esport growth. Due to a significant participation level throughout Asia, the 2018 Asian Games had featured esports as a demonstration sport. As a demonstration sport, medals were awarded, but were not counted in the official medal tally. Six video games were featured in the demonstration event, Arena of Valor, Clash Royale, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Pro Evolution Soccer, and StarCraft II.
In a bold commitment to mainstreaming competitive gaming, the Asian Games have made esports an official medal sport for the 2022 Games to be held in Hangzhou, China. The Asian Games are recognized by the International Olympic Committee and are considered the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games.
Additionally, the Olympic Council of Asia has recently announced a partnership with Alisports, (the sports arm of Chinese online retail firm Alibaba) to introduce esports as a demonstration sport at next year’s games in Indonesia
In a discussion with Roger Quiles, an Esports Attorney at Quiles Law in New York, I asked how eSports has grown in Asia compared with the rest of the world, to which he responded:
In the context of esports, Asia cannot be spoken of as a singular market. In some countries, particularly China and Korea, esports is well-developed and regulated. Notably, these countries predominantly play games on pc and mobile devices. As esports has a significant business presence in China and Korea, there is also more readily available infrastructure to utilize for esports endeavors.
By contrast, southeast Asia is still developing its esports ecosystem, albeit at a very rapid pace. There, mobile games dominate the esports market, which creates its own separate challenges for businesses and players to face. Additionally, Japan, known for its legendary fighting game players, has only recently opened its doors to large scale esports activities with its player licensure system.
Realistically, the most appropriate way to discuss Asia's growth of esports is that different areas and different countries are in different stages of their esports adoption. In a sense, Asia's differing levels of adoption is a microcosm of how the world at large has taken to esports. Some countries have embraced the industry, regulating it as they see fit and creating an ecosystem for it to continue to grow despite its already significant levels, and other countries are still figuring out their esports strategies, or have only recently implemented a strategy.
Further, I asked Roger if there is anything unique about eSports in Asia?
Asia at large embraces mobile games as esports titles much more than other areas of the world. This is particularly unique and has broad implications for the businesses operating within that ecosystem. For example, an esports organization with teams operating in several mobile titles may have a bit more difficulty obtaining what are otherwise considered to be esports-endemic sponsors, simply because the items or technology needed to interact with mobile games is different than its PC counterparts.
Mobile games require very little, if any, peripherals to play, so there is less inherent value for a peripheral sponsor to engage that organization. However, this also creates opportunities that more traditional pc based ecosystems do not so readily have, like phone sponsors, tel-cos, and more. As time passes, I think you'll begin to see a more of a divergence between the business of operating a mobile based esports organization and a pc based organization.
I also spoke with Chris Smith, founder of BIG Esports in Melbourne, Australia. He adds that “Asia does its own thing with different gaming titles and a focus on mobile esports, which is comparatively small in US/EU”
In comparing Australia to the global esports market, Chris mentions that “Australia is 5-8 years behind the USA, while Asia is on its own level. Australia follows the US tech/consumer/esports market.”
As tournaments are an important feature in esports, Roger responds to my question, what impact do Tournaments have in eSports in Asia .. are there any established major tournaments that players aim for?
Tournaments and leagues are always the lifeblood of esports, regardless of what area of the world they are in or how big the event is. No matter how big or small, tournaments give players the ability to prove themselves. At the pro level, that's going to mean recognition, money, and the ever-important respect. At the local tournament level, that still means recognition and respect, and hopefully at least a few dollars. Though the scale of the events may change, the desires of players do not. Certainly, larger tournaments can be a showcase for esports to gain new fans and new competitive players, who then must traverse the winding road of small tournaments to continue their path to pro. Major tournaments will vary based upon the game(s) followed, like the League of Legends World Championship, though there are some multi-title tournaments as well, like the World Electronic Sports Games
Initially popular as a spectator sport in Asia, with more than 40,000 people attended the 2014 League of Legends World Championship finals in Seoul, competitive gaming now draws tens of millions of viewers to online platforms and live venues around the world, including New York’s Madison Square Garden, the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
It is projected that annual growth will be approximately 14% by 2021, with the number of casual viewers estimated at 307 million, and esport enthusiasts to be about 250 million, for a total audience of 557 million.
Esports are considered by many to be one of the world’s largest growth markets in the coming years. I’d like to thank Chris Smith and Roger Quiles for their input.
