The Rise of Esports
- Karan Haridaass
- Apr 4, 2022
- 5 min read
The Start of Competitive Gaming
Competitive gaming has been around for a long time now. Since the day you fired up your gaming console and handed the second controller to another person, you've been competitive gaming. This is the basic premise of competitive gaming - playing against another player or a team to best them in a game.
Since then, competitive gaming has become more popular and, not to overuse a term, competitive. It carries with it a bit more nuance compared to playing Mario Kart against someone from your couch. It has given rise to professional esports teams, and leagues played all over the world. Esports competitions have become events where thousands of people congregate from the global gaming fraternity to prove their skills.
And last but not least, esports is backed financially by top brands globally. All this points to a sector that offers significant growth in a short span of time.
Evolution of the Esports Industry
As an industry, esports has seen major growth in the last decade. The term esports came into popular usage in the early 2000s, but it wasn't until later that the term became more mainstream.
As esports continued to grow in popularity, esports organizations and events became more standardized. In 2008, the International Esports Federation (IeSF) was formed in Busan, South Korea. Today, there are over 109 member nations worldwide.
Esports has been around for nearly two decades, but only recently have they become a large part of mainstream culture. However, they've taken off in popularity and value since the start of 2016, especially in South-East Asia, where players routinely compete for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
We're seeing massive growth in the market and viewership, which should continue to rise over the next few years. Esports has seen a rapid increase in popularity over the past year, and that means more money for players, teams, and brands.
The value of the esports market in 2017 was valued at 694.2 million in 2017. By 2023, the industry could see a $2.2 billion revenue increase.
How It Integrates Into the Sports Ecosystem
Gaming and sports were always perceived to be like oil and water. Gaming was usually relegated to just being a distraction to professional athletes who were looking for some relaxation. But professional gaming has completely changed the picture today.
In a lot of ways, esports are quite similar to sports in real-life. Skilled players compete against each other on a level playing field, watched by an audience. The only difference is that esports is played on a computer in virtual space.
These professional esports teams make a lot of money like their sporting counterparts as well. One of the most popular esports teams is Team Liquid. Based out of the Netherlands, it is purportedly one of the most successful esports franchises of all time.
With total earnings of more than 37 million dollars in 2021, they have some of the top names in the business. MinD_ContRoL (Ivan Ivanov), KuroKy (Kuro Takhasomi), and GH (Maroun Merhej) are the top picks from their roster.
The draw for sponsors in esports is not just about the financial aspect - it's about emotion. People are loyal to their esports teams just like they are to their favorite sporting teams, if not more. More than 5.4 million people watched the Free Fire World Series 2021 held in Singapore.
Team Liquid has more than 1 million followers on its Instagram account, which exceeds the follower counts of some sporting teams.
Impact of Esports on Society
While watching video games and esports has become increasingly popular over the past few years, there is still much debate about its true impact on society. The growth of esports and the gaming industry has led to many claims of positive impacts, such as better educational outcomes, better physical fitness, improved social skills, and better job opportunities.
Some people also argue that gaming helps people deal with personal problems, including anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Watching players outwit each other on a game can give people watching it a huge rush.
Moreover, esports are a great alternative for people who can't play a real sport. There are esports titles for several games, including baseball, football, basketball, and baseball, just to mention a few. Even competitive car racing disciplines like Formula 1 have a dedicated esports league on iRacing.
Even non-traditional activities like arcade shooting and wargames can be simulated properly as part of the esports roster. Let's take DoTA, Overwatch, and Call of Duty - they don't have equivalent real-life sports, but they still have a huge following in esports. Millions of people tune in to watch people play these games.
It is fair to say that esports has shaped society today and made this form of entertainment far more accessible. Even during the pandemic, when regular sporting events were canceled, esports was able to thrive.
A Glimpse Into the Future of the Esports Industry
As technology becomes more accessible and internet speeds around the world continue to rise, esports will become even more mainstream.
Esports has the potential to become one of the biggest and fastest-growing sports in the world. Currently, the number of people who've played at least one video game stands at 2.81 billion. This is expected to increase to 3.07 billion in 2023.
As you can see on the graph, from a 6% growth rate in 2016, the current growth is up 8.6% in 2021, which is a huge increase over just five years. These figures are significant when you're looking at long-term growth in terms of financial numbers.
It is also one reason why big companies like Intel, Razer, Coke, Mercedes-Benz, and Red Bull, continue to invest in this genre of entertainment. Even popular athletes like David Beckham and Steph Curry are investing huge sums of money into esports teams.
From a bird's eye view of the landscape, esports today act as a conduit for people to the real thing. Polyphony Digital and Nissan's collaboration - GT Academy is a good example to use here. Polyphony is the studio behind the Gran Turismo series of games on the PlayStation console. People who post top times on their Gran Turismo challenges are selected to drive real race cars worldwide.
In Summary
Esports is going to be a huge deal for gamers and businesses alike. People are fiercely passionate about teams and players playing their favorite genre of games. It takes entertainment and competitive spirit in a new direction that is more accessible to the world.
According to the latest reports, esports investments have doubled their returns for brands as a business opportunity. esports also improves several brand metrics like reach, business impact, engagement, and recall aside from monetary benefits. This has led to even more brands vying for a piece of the esports pie.
To sum it up, esports' rise to the top hasn't been anything short of meteoric. It is a new and more accessible form of entertainment that people can relate to easier. esports organizations lend themselves to high organic year-on-year growth and increased investments from businesses.
Together, all these factors ensure that esports is not just a participant, but an industry skyrocketing into the future!
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