Esports Insights

Emily Hayday, Holly Collison-Randall, Sarah Kelly

• Éditeur: Routledge
• Année: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000589214
• Édition: 1
• Sujet: Business
• Sous-sujet: Sport & Exercise Science

Esports Insights outlines the fundamental characteristics, features, and structures of the rapidly growing esports industry and acts as the perfect primer for readers without any prior knowledge of esports.

Featuring international case studies in every chapter, this book showcases the contemporary nature of esports through illustrative, industry examples. By offering a concise and easy to understand introduction, it discusses the key components, stakeholders, and features of this commercially driven sector, which by its very nature is dynamic and highly complex. Exploring current regulatory and governance structures within esports, it unpacks the industry's essential features by outlining the various genres, formats and stakeholders who are instrumental to the functioning of the esports industry. Adopting a critical but balanced analysis, the book discusses the social benefits of esports, outlining its potential as a tool for social inclusion and sport development, whilst acknowledging the potential impacts and risks of esports participation and spectatorship, related to health and wellbeing. Finally, Esports Insights also considers future developments and changes within esports, as the sector evolves and continues to professionalise.

This book will be of interest to any student, researcher, or practitioner with an interest in sport business, sport and society, event studies, esports or video gaming, or the wider media industry.

1 Esports fundamentals

DOI: 10.4324/9781003213598-1

Key Questions

1. What are the key characteristics, engagement modes, and definition of esports?
2. Who are the key stakeholders involved in the esports industry?
3. What role does esports have within a digital environment?

Introduction

This chapter provides insight into the world of esports, by outlining the key features, components, and attributes of the industry. COVID-19 accelerated engagement with esports as alternative forms of entertainment were not possible and the virtual environment in which esports is situated offers a unique position unbounded by location or social restrictions. Esports has transformed the trajectory of the sport, media, and entertainment industries by providing virtual and online spaces for individuals and fans to engage, connect, consume, and create. The sector has expanded from its online gaming foundations to a cultural, commercial, and globally positioned industry, offering significant economic and social impact, which is attracting lucrative investment. It is not just a recreational and high-performance platform, but a business which resonates with younger generations, and with this, global brands are keen to reach the next generation consumers through esports.

Media and streaming platforms such as Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitch have resulted in a new digital environment, where individuals are connecting, creating, and consuming content online. The ability for fans and consumers to create content that can be enjoyed and shared has resulted in a shift in value creation. Historically, individuals were delivered information and content through traditional media consumption models (TV and linear broadcasting), whereas digital and social media platforms allow interactivity and reciprocal engagement, meaning users become part of content creation process, rather than passive consumers. Typically, esports are accessed via consoles, mobile or personal computers, and can be played or streamed anywhere, facilitated by any devices connected to the internet. In recent years mobile esports popularity has increased, which opens up esports to new audiences and modes of engagement, due to the heightened flexibility that mobile devices allow, whilst also reducing entry barriers as specialist equipment (PC or console) is not required.

What is esports?

Electronic sports or esports originated in Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 1972, with a group of students gathering to play Spacewar, one of the world’s first video games. Esports started as an underground culture with gamers organising Local Area Network (LAN) parties and building their own communities from the ground up. Esports has now grown into a billion-dollar industry, attracting a global audience of over 500 million (as both participants and spectators), establishing it within digital youth culture.

Esports in its broadest sense can be defined as competitive online video gaming and although not a new concept, the interest, popularity, and acknowledgment of the esports sector has grown significantly in the 21st century. Esports is used as an umbrella term to describe a complex and evolving industry, which although positioned in a virtual environment, shares many characteristics with the traditional sports industry (Scholz, 2020). The esports industry has developed clear league and competition structures and franchises, organisational and business management practices, mainstream sponsorship and media support, and talent development pathways, however due to the composition and ownership structures there are specific governance and regulatory challenges, which are unique to this digitised industry (Peng et al., 2020).

Esports is a product of digital disruption, and the live streaming platform Twitch has been instrumental in the global development and reach of esports, by providing an online platform for gamers to discuss their views and opinions, around a shared interest. Twitch is the most popular streaming media platform, reaching 90% of total esports audiences, with many celebrity gamers streaming and communicating from multiple platforms including YouTube and social media, alongside Twitch. Streamers on Twitch live stream their gameplay, commentaries, and other activities by sharing their screen with subscribers and fans who watch them live, comment, and interact directly through the stream chat functionality. Online gaming and live streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube Gaming have become the go to environment for gamers, as they provide an interactive space for entertainment, social opportunities, and foster the creation of online communities.

The professional esports scene is unique in this respect, as the physical proximity between fans and the athletes during a competition or tournament is non-existent. Although in traditional sport, athletes have amassed millions of followers on different social channels and often share personal content from their lives outside of sport, when esports athletes are competing, apart from the crowd at the stadium, they do not have direct contact with fans for that period of competition. Yet, at esports events and competitions, afforded by the virtual environment and communication mechanisms, users can engage directly in real-time through the chat function with esports athletes and each other. Esports spaces allow instant connections and powerful interactions between different users, fans, and athletes that is not mirrored in other industries.

Esports origins as a cultural phenomenon started in South Korea but has become integrated into popular culture globally, especially amongst youth populations. With worldwide audiences in 2021 of 474.0 million, professional gamers are now seen as celebrities, competitions are being broadcast on national television networks, and industry revenues are expected to reach $1.8 billion in 2022, following a year-on-year growth trajectory of 15%. Esports has become a bourgeoning industry, experiencing an influx of brand investment and the emergence of esports services and creative industries associated with it. Even as early as 2006, Wagner (p. 1) described esports as a “fundamental element in today’s digital youth culture” and the acceleration and interest in the sector illustrates the value and relevance of esports. Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe are the top three global esports markets, with China specifically being the largest market for live streaming games, accumulating an audience of 193 million in 2021 (Newzoo, 2021). With a range of genres, game titles, and varying modes of engagement, what is esports?

Esports genres and formats

Esports, in its purest form, is an online activity where individuals compete against each other, depending on the game title there are multiple playing formats available, for example: 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 and so forth. Esports is played at all levels, from amateur to professional and a common adage associated with esports is the principle of being “easy to learn, hard to master” (Scholz, 2020). Whether playing, spectating, or streaming esports has become an integral part of the daily lifestyle for millions across the globe. At the amateur level, there are relatively low barriers to entry, as esports can be played by anyone, regardless of gender, age, and physical ability. Although, as will be explored Chapter 4, entrenched norms and practices (often masculine and toxic) have shaped the cultures and customs currently seen within esports spaces, creating entry barriers for some individuals looking to engage with online competitive gaming.

Esports is a broad term that is often used to describe the sector; however, this is made up of multiple gaming titles, which can be characterised into esports genres. Funk et al. (2018) outline the most common which include: first-person shooter games (i.e., Global Offensive and Counter-strike), fighting games (i.e., StreetFighter, Smash Bros), multiplayer online battle arenas (i.e., League of Legends, DOTA 2), real-time strategy games (i.e., StarCraft), and sport-based video games (i.e., FIFA, Rocket League). The multiplicity and diversity of the esports landscape increases the popularity and engagement of different audiences. The dynamic and innovative nature of the industry alongside the appetite for new, immersive titles has resulted in a continuously evolving environment, with new games regularly being launched, to varying degrees of popularity. For example, Valorant is a free to play, first-person shooter game, that was developed by Riot Games and officially released in June 2020. A year on in 2021, Riot has confirmed an average of 14 million players globally are logging in each month to compete. A further example of the fluid and rapidly changing popularity and dominance of certain esports titles can be seen through the Epic Games title, Fortnite: Battle Royale, released in 2017, and free to download across numerous platforms. Fortnite was an overnight success and became the top selling app in numerous countries, attracting millions of gamers globally and achieving revenues of $1.5 million during its first week (Thompson, 2020).

To illustrate the popularity and scale of certain esports titles, The International is the annual esports world championship tournament for Dota 2. In 2019, this was hosted at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China (last in-person tournament hosted as subsequent championships were postponed due to COVID-19) and this tournament achieved peak viewership of 1.97 million views and culminated in a prize pool of over US $34.3 million. Another global esports tournament, The Intel Extreme Masters in Katowice, Poland in 2019 attracted a live audience of over 174,000 fans across the tournaments, eclipsing live audiences seen in traditional sport (Cranmer et al., 2021).

Esports commercialisation

The community-driven origins of the esports industry have grown into a flourishing industry, which in 2021 generated $833.6 million in revenue (Newzoo, 2021). Commercialisation through in-game purchases, tickets, and merchandise sales contributed, yet media rights, advertising, and sponsorship accounted for over 75% of the total revenues in 2021 (Newzoo, 2021). Unlike traditional sport, esports have been built upon a purely commercial model, emanating from exclusive intellectual property ownership by game publishers. Revenue generation has grown beyond purchasing the game itself, with many free to play options, underpinned by subscription models, which are used to monetise certain formats and titles. Gaming structure has permitted creative revenue streams to be leveraged, through in-game microtransactions to elicit real world and virtual in game currency. Some of these currencies and chance-based rewards include virtual items such as, skins, loot boxes, personalisation of avatars, which are purchased in-game and do not offer any performance advantages. These highly popular virtual items instead offer cosmetic improvements in exchange for money and are specific to each esports title, for example, in Fortnite, ‘V-Bucks’ is the virtual currency used. Microtransactions form a key pillar of game publishers’ commercialisation model and results in significant revenue generation. This form of gambling (purchasing virtual items) is proving extremely popular with young players, and controversial with regulators due to their gambling-like qualities and addictive potential (King & Delfabbro, 2019).

Appetite and interest in commercial investment within esports is continuing to grow as brands identify the valuable opportunities that esports offers for consumer engagement. Yet, for many brands esports is a new domain they are not familiar with, resulting in many grappling with the best way to engage and resonate with esports fans in authentic and meaningful ways. Trends, cultures, and value systems within the esports sector are unique to every game (i.e., League of Legends, Call of Duty, FIFA), with each title having its own community and specific identity. Therefore, for brands looking to enter this space it can be a complex and new environment to navigate. Agencies have in many ways stepped in to enhance understanding and knowledge around esports for many brands, who are looking to enter the esports space. The next case study outlines some of the work undertaken by DLC Studios, who works as a creative agency within the esports and gaming sphere.

Case Study: DLC Studios

Written by Daniel Chung – Director of Operations

DLC Studios is a creative agency focused on esports and gaming. We regularly work with brands such as Red Bull, ESL, and Ubisoft. Team members at DLC Studios all play, watch, and engage in the esports industry and working in the space allows us to be a part of and contribute to the very industry that we are passionate about. We want brands to have positive experiences within the esports industry and being engaged with esports ourselves means that we understand the communities and the cultures that have developed...

Table des matières

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Esports fundamentals
• 2 Esports governance and regulation
• 3 Esports as a mechanism for social change
• 4 Esports, health, and wellbeing
• 5 Esports evolution
• Index