What Does the Future of Esports Look Like?

e-sports-future
Image on Flickr by Sam Churchill  

The presence of celebrity engagements , Income for many online gamers, availability of endless mobile gaming apps, and multiple Brand Placements makes Esport's Future a lot brighter than we thought.


Esports just like any other sport, their future depends upon dividends. The more profitable a venture is more it's going to survive 

Everything has an end even Esports will be replaced by some other source of entertainment in future, but for now, it seems lasting and persistent.


Why Esports market keeps growing?

Let us look at some aspects of what's keeping this ship afloat and why there are lots of people getting involved and recognizing it as a legit entity.


1) Celebrities:

To make any brand popular the best way is to involve celebrities in it. Esports in this case is surrounded by celebrity engagement. To speak a few 


  • Micheal Jordon an NBA star invested 27 million dollars in a startup gaming company "aXiomatic Gaming" in October 2018.
  • Stephen curry invested 37 million dollars in a gaming group "TSM"
  • Aubrey Drake Graham raised about 2 million dollars for a startup gaming company "Player's Lounge" and also a co-owner of Esport organization" 100 thieves "

You get the idea there is a lot of celebrity money going to this industry and funding is not a problem for these types of projects.

All the startups gaming companies are getting so much limelight due to these sports stars and music starts getting involved, you can't even think of E-sport having no future.

Gamers are getting paid more and everyone is experiencing a good time what more can you expect when something has a bright future

 

2) Character skins:


Celebrities are making entrances in E-sport games as character’s skin such as: 

 


Celebrity Character skins are making these events more interesting, playable, and is able to penetrate those market audiences that are not even interested in gaming.


3) Source of income:

Esports has become a source of wealth for many players. Even if you are not a real player you can comment on other players' game-plays, get views and make more money from it.

 

The  industry has turned into a real income gainer from streaming services like:

 

 

See here the top earnings of Twitch Streamers. Some of them are earning $5,295,582.That's insane if top gamers are earning that much, think of 0.1% of this amount which equals $5295


Imagine your life if you can earn this.


It could become a great income while more and more people join these streaming services; you should try to build a fan base as now is the best time to make a reliable living.


4) Gaming tournaments real money gainers:

 

Every year there are a lot of E-sport tournaments; watched by many 


Most watch tournaments held in 2021 was  


  • Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore has a peak viewership of 5.4m 
  • 2nd watched was League of Legends 2021 World Championship peak viewership 4m 

There were many eyeballs on these gaming events more than the largest music concert ever held which is  Michel Jarre’s Concert of 3.5m people in attendance.

 

Imagine all the advertising revenue going to these events as more and more money pumping in, making E-sport future even brighter than the Sun itself.


5) Endless Multiplayer mobile apps:

Multiplayer mobile gaming apps are coming into the market every day one of them is PUBg mobile a popular game 


Other new games

  • RAID: SHADOW LEGENDS
  • Garena Free Fire
  • Space team
  • Vainglory
  • Pokémon Go

When there are endless multiplayer games to play it can’t stop the growth of E-sports in any way. 


Things that make E-sport unbreakable:

 

Social media:

Social media twitter trends are bringing E sporting to more audiences around the world.


With the help of mobile gaming, E-sports is becoming easier to access. Players can do multiplayer battles like in PUBG mobile, call of duty mobile competing with friends and family online.


Sharing gaming feed on popular apps like small clips in TikTok has made more multiplayer games and gamers famous


Esports trends have no way of stopping and this train is surpassing every obstacle even if traditional news channels don’t give coverage they are still popular around the world in terms of revenue and viewership.


Participation:

The best way we can call it better than other sports is by getting access to these events. 


In regular sports, presence is all there is. Live crowd and attendance make these sports money but E-sport you can join virtually.


A lot of tournaments happening online and many players are joining them from their living room as reported in WP


What better way to show your gaming skills from the comfort of your home and earn money from it. This makes it really attractive for younger audience which brings us to our 3rd point.

 

Brands marketing:

As you may know, the young audience is the blood and bones of Brands. 


These audiences tend to shift and try new alternative brands easier than older ones as mentioned in a study How does consumer age affect the desire for new products and brands?


So, when esports are filled with age group 17 and above making an ideal place for newer brands to market position their products among young lads.


Hence giving more money to the industry and making E-sport unstoppable


Esports to Olympics:

 

E sporting is being considered to be entered in Olympic games among other real sports.


Imagine swimming, powerlifting, and then E-gaming.


IOC has said work being done to include E sport in Olympic games increasing its overall worth and popularity among the youth market.


If Olympics started to consider it a real event then it must be becoming a huge thing and will be recognized by every other country


 

Some drawbacks that can end E-sports: 


Every high has a downside let us explore some ways that can damage e-sporting and has a potential to end the revolution for good.


Big corporations Gone:

E-sports are growing now but we should not think of it as a"Holy Grail" kind of thing.


There was a time when:

  • Nokia was huge and then one day the CEO said "We didn't do anything wrong but we lost" they were gone and admitted defeat which was once considered as a world-dominating mobile company.
  • 1990s Toy R Us filed for bankruptcy in June 2018 and is still trying to make a comeback
  • Even Lehman Brothers a huge investment company suffered great loss in a "Global Financial Crisis" and filed bankruptcy
  • Going back further in history "Titanic" was considered an unsinkable ship and still sank on the first voyage

Anything can happen in the future nobody knows what will be the fate of Esport but we hope that it keeps on growing and expanding.

 

Rapid growth not a good sign:

This industry is growing rapidly as we have mentioned new and newer mobile game apps coming into the market can cause a lot of problems.

 

What if a pro player in PUBg is not so pro in a strategy game. These players are considered pro but one-day PUBg would not be enjoyable as it was.

 

All these games are doing business based on a "Hype" and surprises. If updates stop coming and some new game enters the market that can better satisfy needs then the player has to change their game-plays and everything.

 

Pubg might not be popular one day and this false sense of skills among players that they are undefeatable might do them harm as they would find it difficult to adjust in a newer game, bringing us towards an end of E gaming.

 

E-sport might have to change much more rapidly along with companies, brands, and players’ interests to cope with these facts which can be too much to keep pace with.

 

Technology Changes:

Changes in technology can bring obstacles to E-sport growth. This industry runs on technology that keeps on changing with each passing day.

 

With the introduction of 5G, virtual reality, and metaverse Esport has to make itself adjustable to these technologies along with the players.

 

If a player is good at desktop gaming he might not be that good in VR or mobile. So, gamers can have problems adjusting to newer technology.

 

Moreover, cryptocurrencies are also surfacing in media and making headlines this can alter how players purchase in-game items and other character level-ups.

 

For now, E-sport has no threat of ending but it has to make the necessary adjustments along the way to keep surviving and thriving