The esports industry is experiencing fast-paced growth, but will esports ever become the norm in the regular market? Can we have esports as school disciplines? Will esports ever replace traditional sports in the entertainment field? Let’s take a look at some key points.
Playing video games is a regular pastime for many people. To put things into perspective, there are approximately 3.24 billion gamers in the world, according to Statista. That means almost 50% of the world’s entire population — quite a lot. Professional gaming is also reaching new levels of popularity. For instance, some events, like the League of Legends World Championship, have an audience superior to some traditional sports leagues, being in the top 10 of most-watched sports in the world. Joining the esports scene is also fairly easy: all you need is an internet connection and a device, and you can watch your favorite esports events. However, some people are still skeptical towards professional gaming. Do we have enough data to predict that esports games are on the path to replacing traditional esports? Here’s some data to help us answer that question.
The esports industry is still growing
If we compare previous esports revenue numbers, it’s easy to notice that it has experienced major growth in the past five years. There are many factors that can explain this phenomenal growth, such as the increased accessibility, diversity of disciplines, mainstream personalities playing video games (and becoming part of this world, like Michael Jordan, Jay-Z, and Travis Scott), etc. When combined, those factors attract a wider audience, which directly impacts sponsorship and investments, thus leading to increasing the amount of esports revenue.
Such an accelerated pace might indicate that we reached a peak in viewers, gamers, and competitions. However, the esports industry still has more and more space to grow; there are places not yet at their full capacity, such as Latin America or Asia-Pacific. Like the technology world, esports knows no borders, and we can rely on research data to understand its growth capacity.
Esports in the near future
Newzoo has published research stating that esports will reach $1 billion in revenue this year (2021). A recent study from Juniper Research predicted that esports revenue will reach $3.5 billion by the year 2025, increasing the competition between streaming platforms (such as Twitch, YouTube Gaming, Facebook Gaming, etc.), tournament organizers, and game developers, and also create more interest on the part of stakeholders and investors.
With more and more esports leagues becoming popular, the opportunities for sponsorship are also limitless, which results in even better events and more engaged esports audiences. Thus, we have a growing number of esports fans, resulting in discussions as to whether esports should be harnessed to play its part in the development of the new generations.
This normalization of esports, which results in the understanding of its benefits across different areas, can be a definitive indicator that esports is becoming mainstream — but not necessarily replacing any other entertainment industry sectors.
Esports and traditional sports can coexist
Entertainment is a diverse and rich industry with a real multitude of opportunities and activities. The esports world is part of it: just like in traditional sports, professional gamers are a part not only of their respective esports teams but also of a crucial industry. Therefore, as much as esports fan numbers are increasing, it’s not necessary to drop one to join another.
It’s difficult to dissociate the words “sports” and “basketball” or “baseball.” However, sports have routines similar to those of the professional gaming world, and the word to define the pro players is “athletes,” just like in other sports. A pro gamer needs to focus on healthy activities, diet, psychological literacy… Their competitive matches generate a lot of stress, which connects those two worlds. If we look through the definition, electronic sports can also be considered sports — they have much more similarities than differences.
The esports audience is as passionate as the traditional sports one, and more often than not, fans of both have the same habits: chanting, trash-talking, and eagerly watching their favorite teams compete. The belief that because they’re into esports, kids will just stop liking traditional sports is baseless.
The most important thing in this analysis is that, according to recent data, esports will generate more money than some traditional sports. The core difference between the two is accessibility: you don’t have to tune in to ESPN at the exact time to watch your favorite game (however, even on traditional TV, esports has its spot to shine: since the debut of “Asian Games” ran on ESPN in 2018, electronic sports are getting more and more space).
Live-streaming apps are available everywhere, with content that can easily be shared or watched at a different time. Also, in order to be a part of the competition, you don’t need to be physically present at the venue — you just need an internet connection. Mobile, console, and PC gaming have those serious advantages, and the COVID-19 pandemic showed the potential of using them, with competitions in games such as League of Legends never stopping, despite the adverse conditions.
Education and esports can be mutually beneficial
The ease of access to the esports world, with it requiring basically an Internet connection and a smartphone, makes parents and educators afraid that their children would be too exposed to video games as a whole. However, choosing to deny the kids the experience of joining this world isn’t a good strategy: it’s far more likely that they will be a part of that culture, either as viewers or players, and there’s no point in not joining them on this path.
Esports and education can — and should — be complementary. You can use any sport as a motivation for kids who have a hard time meeting scholarship goals, for instance. Also, education itself can harness the attraction of gaming to reinforce discipline and help to capture students’ attention.
Using esports as an education tool isn’t really a novelty. In fact, there are many courses already accepting and exploring the possibilities of esports that have been there for a while.
The formation of new electronic sports athletes is extremely important for the industry, which encourages brands and colleges to develop sponsorship programs for esports players.
Playing video games can help your personal development
And not only in motor, dexterity, and language skills — there are many positive sides to playing video games, especially online. By joining the esports community, people get a better understanding of the general uses of the Internet, which helps them protect their personal data, for instance, and overcome social barriers. They can also benefit both professionally and personally from expanding their horizons and upgrading soft skills.
Everything can also be transformed into a teaching method. By integrating esports with other activities, people can be taught respect, discipline, and conciliating everything with their school life — and learn the same important values they can get from traditional sports.
In fact, the already mentioned professional gamers don’t just “play video games.” They have to stick to a strict routine in order to stay fit and healthy. The audience and casual players are also encouraged to improve their habits.
Occupations that can be useful in esports
Like the vast majority of industries, esports needs professionals in many areas. Engineering, journalism, design, marketing… Every major profession has its application in the esports universe. Each team, discipline, organizer, etc., needs PR professionals, for instance; the same is true for various other lines of work.
Also, some colleges have esports scholarship programs, so you can use your skills to join them. That’s yet another example of how esports and education can walk together, creating even more demand for the acceptance of esports as part of mainstream culture.
For more information on colleges that have such programs, you can check out this article: https://weplayholding.com/blog/esports-education-how-to-conciliate-both/
Professional gaming: a viable career?
Each sport has its uniqueness, the factor that makes people dream about it. The popularity of the esports industry has created another attraction for kids around the world: they don’t just want to be fans, they want to be a part of it and build a career in video games.
Like other sports, the skillset needed to become a professional gamer and join the competition is very demanding. Going far beyond just “play video games and see what happens,” professional gaming requires dedication, talent, discipline, motivation… And some luck as well. Also, parents of aspiring professional players need more information about this world to understand the dos and don’ts. That’s why, once again, it’s a good idea to stay on top of the esports scene, alongside the kids. Just watching some games with them can provide you with tons of insight; if you play with them, that will only be reinforced.
If you’re looking at a career in professional gaming, be prepared, though: data shows that only a very small percentage of gamers succeed at making a living from esports, and from them, obviously, a yet smaller percentage will play in a Tier-1 tournament, such as a World Championship, for instance.
Joining a smaller league and constantly learning about the game you’re talented at are very important steps; electronic sports are no different from any other sport in that respect. You can only become a professional football player if you play it a lot. The same applies to esports.
Grassroots: ?reating a more dynamic scene
The esports industry heavily benefits from new faces, talented new athletes, and more content created. Therefore, grassroots is the key to esports leagues and organizations. Just like NBA players are drafted each year, academy leagues in esports are being created in order to see those up-and-coming talents, refresh, and keep the esports market stable.
Thus, stakeholders, sponsors, and tournament organizers are looking forward to welcoming new players. The industry revolves around the formation of new faces, and most big teams have their Tier-2 squad — not to mention smaller ones that are only present in the grassroots scene; getting experience and feeling comfortable with the audience is also an important step towards joining the esports industry.
Joining a team can be beneficial for various aspects of life — overcoming social difficulties, for instance. There’s an endless list of reasons why, if you feel that you have what it takes, you should look into it — the esports universe welcomes people of all ages.
Breaking biases and prejudice
One of the latest barriers that video games, and esports in general, have yet to overcome, is the bias towards them. Many people still associate playing video games with having unhealthy habits, being socially awkward, never leaving one’s parents’ basement, and so on.
This image is completely off the mark. As mentioned, pro gamers and esports teams have strong policies to instill good and healthy habits in athletes, and even suggest that to viewers. By default, normalizing such conduct can only help people get the best out of the esports world. That’s why esports’ mainstream acceptance helps both gamers and people interested in video games.
Another positive side of treating esports as part of the mainstream culture is that the popularity of games and the multitude of fans can help build better attitudes on the internet. Recently, teams, tournament organizers, and developers have been applying severe punitive measures to fight toxicity in the scene. In the gaming omniverse, those behaviors are slowly but surely starting to be avoided.
This creates an inclusive environment — something that our society as a whole could benefit from. The balance between “being a nice person” and “being competitive” is something that the esports universe is still fighting to achieve, but the situations before and now are miles apart.
In conclusion: esports and traditional sports have more similarities than you may think
Video games are a consumer trend in mainstream culture. In the next decade, the esports world will keep generating enough money to compete with heavyweight industries. The tendency is that more and more brands are accepting the challenge and joining in the game, and all in all, everything points to the answer that yes, esports will indeed become mainstream.
Acknowledging esports as a part of the mainstream culture will help gamers, educators, and parents to share interests, develop new skills, and fully embrace the benefits of this meteoric industry: learning how to use the internet, protect personal data, avoid toxicity, reinforce good habits, enhance soft skills, thrive at school, embrace new learning methods, and have fun gaming. It’s a win-win(-win-win-win…) situation for everyone from advertisers to the viewers: each tournament is an opportunity to learn and grow.
