Esports: Not All Fun and Games

By Jacob Jones

Copper Box Arena, London

Relevance of Esports

What are your most favorite video games you have ever played? Call of Duty, Overwatch, Rocket League, Halo, Fortnite?! No matter what it may be, that game had some kind of value to you because it may have been fun, exciting, realistic, or even scary. Most people only know and only can see the final outcomes of video games and not the underground behind the scenes works that goes on behind them.

To dive into Esports, Esports focuses more on the competitive side of gaming where professional gamers participate in online and in-person tournaments for money. However, there are many other routes you can take in the Esports industry to earn money. It is important to know this because not everyone may be interested in to playing professionally. In the Esports industry there are many different roles that make big differences in how we see the final product of Esports events which is why Esports is not all about fun and games.

What You Can Do

As I just previously mentioned, there are several different roles that play huge parts into what you see in the esports industry. Examples include careers like: Esports Event Manager, Content Creation Coordinator, Digital Content Producer, Public Relations Manager and more. You can find dozens of interesting and fun jobs in esports which can lead to you creating new friendships and being a part of the esports community.

The Esports industry is thriving and growing and becoming more and more relevant in today’s society. The amount of money that gets put into Esports gets people engaged and interested into it. Esports is worth knowing about because it has largely impacted the lives of a lot of young people, and it has influenced people both younger and older to become a part of the Esports industry. Aside from the money and the gaming, Esports events are thrilling, exciting, and socially interactive that make people want to go back more and more.

Statistics

There have been increasingly large amounts of growth over the years in regard to viewership and revenue. “The increasing viewership is what mainly contributed to the revenue growth – and it’s not just because those viewers are generating revenue. Seeing the potential of reaching a large and engaged audience, brands are investing in esports marketing, both directly and indirectly,” according to Werner Geyser. All over the world there are global trends in how esports in growing because of livestreaming the events that occur. Newzoo, another resource that reviews the live streaming market trends and esports market developments, has “recognize the significant role that livestreaming plays in the eSports and gaming worlds.”

“In Newzoo’s 2019 adjusted figures, there were 200.8 million occasional viewers and 197 million eSports enthusiasts, making the total audience 397.8 million. In 2020, because of the pandemic, the viewership and esports enthusiast statistics skyrocketed, leading to “a combined esports audience of 435.9 million.”

Conclusion

To me I have always had a love for video games, and I became interested in esports when I first started playing Fortnite competitively and had hopes of playing Halo competitively. Then I had learned about livestreaming, casting, and other parts of the esports industry I could be a part of and that's what I want to be able to share in future blog posts as well. You can also expect to see what's going on in the esports scene currently like Twitch Con, PAX, and more in future blog posts.

There are many things to unpack and learn as esports is constantly growing, and I believe that whatever goals or even ideas you may have can be reached through this blog. Keep following to keep up with future blog posts and to learn more about the behind scenes of esports.