A 2016 Newzoo study found that more than a billion people are aware of eSports, figures up more than a third from a year prior. eSports are a major money maker, bringing in around a billion dollars in 2016, in sharp contrast to flat or falling movie receipts and people cutting the cord on broadcast television. There are several trends driving the expansion and success of eSports for 2017 and beyond.
eSports Going Mainstream
More than 150 million Americans play video games. And gaming is increasingly a parent-child bonding activity as parents who played games as children now play games with their children.
The technology and distribution agreements to take eSports mainstream arrived in 2016. First, Activision Blizzard announced that it would push eSports to the Facebook live video platform; this eliminates the need to learn other platforms for sharing your gaming experience and brings eSports to more than a billion Facebook users.
The second revolution to bring eSports to the masses is putting it on their TVs just like football, soccer, baseball and MMA. Ginx TV entered an agreement with Sky and ITV in 2016 to become a sports TV channel. It is available to 14 million UK and Ireland subscribers and more than twenty million more globally. In contrast, ESPN and several other traditional sports cable channels are in decline because fewer people are willing to pay to watch their games, more sports fans can find the same content online for free, and in the case of ESPN, the political stances of management literally turned off many viewers. eSports, in contrast, has a younger and growing fan base and is free of the scandals that have tainted many older sports.
Money Flows In
In September, 2013, Grand Theft Auto’s 14th installment earned $800 million in worldwide sales in the first twenty four hours — the biggest launch of any type of entertainment in history. The video game industry is expected to hit $82 billion in overall sales in 2017, while ticket sales, movies and other types of entertainment are experiencing decline. Casual gamers and hardcore gamers often prefer games over other types of media because they get many more hours of entertainment out of one game than they do a movie or concert.
The technology that lets them share their best gaming moments with the world or share their current game live with friends makes it a social experience and source of pride. eSports are taking off in part because there is money flowing into video games as entertainment and eSports simply level up from the casual competition of gamers with each other, and the fact that game developers will offer sponsorships and prize money for eSports in the hope of marketing to one of the few growing segments of the entertainment industry.
This could lead to intercollegiate eSports networks and even scholarships for eSports athletes. The fact that eSports are cheaper to support than traditional athletics, are open to many who lack the physical ability to play other sports and tie into STEM are all extras. If eSports leagues take off, game developers would be able to monetize merchandise just like traditional sports — and eSports would be expanded even more in the hope of expanding this income source.
On the flipside, football clubs in the EU are showing more interest in eSports. More FIFA players play both professional football and football video games before a large online audience. And these real life athletes are sometimes making as much money or more playing eSports than they are for their time on the field.
MMO Games Are Taking Off
One of the hottest trends of 2017 is MMO games in eSports. Game developers actually want to encourage MMO games versus other types of content, since it is hard to pirate a game as compared to a movie and impossible to pirate an MMO game, since it is essentially a service. Players like MMOs for the social experience, their relationships and engagement — and a copy of the game can’t give you that.
Game developers also like the MMO games because it is a more sustainable economic model. Players typically pay month to month or pay an annual subscription. Game developers receive more consistent revenue they can rely on, instead of developing a big game and hoping the sales result in enough income to pay for its costs and the sunk costs of any duds. The ability to charge gamers for extra lives, in-game gear and other extras is a bonus.
Conclusion
Several 2016 announcements by major game developers and tech companies will bring eSports to many who have never heard of it while allowing many who have only heard of it to literally join in. Expect to see the franchising of eSports soon from the collegiate to professional level, while professional real world and eSports are starting to merge. The different ways eSports can be monetized are reason enough for game developers and tech companies to encourage it and cultivate it. eSport MMOs are taking off, and there are multiple economic reasons for game developers to do nothing but encourage this.
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