Professional gaming has gained considerable momentum over the last 36 months, and has propelled to new heights within the current pandemic. Initially a focus for the more die-hard gaming community, professional gaming has burst into mainstream acceptance and now boasts considerable commercial opportunities. Participants, fans, and investors alike, a major economic engine is emerging.
Current State Overview
Let's walk this back to basics to start with.
The label 'E-Sports' has been assigned to the professional gaming landscape. This has encouraged technical innovation, cloud adoption and hardware improvements that have been key pillars of growth. This has driven by commercial opportunities and an untapped yet enthusiastic virtual audience.
The main driver of commercial interest? It really comes down to the maturity of technological connectivity, the gaming platforms themselves, and the sheer base of highly enthused and dedicated participants whose dreams have quite literally come true. Not only have they been awarded an outlet in the form of a legitimate gaming social institution, but a strong validation has been issued for their gaming passions.
Notable soundbites:
1. The International Olympic Committee has openly mentioned interest in exploring E-Sports inclusion in the Summer Games
2. Positive recognition and promotion for E-Sports from Fortune 500 firms including J.P. Morgan Chase
3. Formula One investment and commitment into virtual racing, such as the Renault Sport Formula One Team
Commercial Data Points
1. Professional gamers now generally belong to professional gaming 'teams' that are legal companies, and can earn considerably higher salaries than traditional 'jobs'. These are increasingly following the same operational structures you would see of a regular business, with chief operations officers/commercial officers as an example
2. The largest prize pools for gaming tournaments exceed $25 million US dollars
3. Global E-Sports revenue is expected to top 1 billion US dollars in 2020
4. Consumer spend on merchandise and tickets is more than $100 million US dollars
5. Current base of enthusiastic and casual followers is approaching 350 million globally
Sustainability
It is worth mentioning that E-Sports can have considerable environmental benefits and a role to play in sustainability. In Formula 1 E-Sports, a vehicle can sustain unlimited damage without ever needing a replacement part, there is no fuel needed, and no emissions. There is also no comparable carbon footprint for travelling to events since participation is from home. When the Formula 1 season was postponed in March, many new activities were created to replace the 'real' season, and it was noted that immense carbon emissions were saved from travelling teams no longer needing to span the globe to fulfill approximate levels of interest on gaming platforms.
Technology Innovation
Major traditional technology vendors such as Amazon and Microsoft are investing in E-Sports platforms and associated technologies. Proliferation of gaming related vendors such as Fanatech are building world class accessories and simulators. This produces higher quality mainstream consumer products and at a lower cost point.
Looking ahead, there is the potential to leverage E-Sports platforms to model real world physics in such a way that the physical world can benefit. There is precedent. Modern Formula One teams conduct hundreds of millions of virtual race simulations before a wheel is spun at a race weekend. Parts are also designed, tested and proven before real world manufacturing ever occurs, removing the need to build a part, then test, and reconcile the multitude of real world variables and data points. There are major advantages to execute similar concepts and even expand further value within the business community.
From this concept, virtual platforms could be designed to allow instrumentation and infrastructure to be designed as part of the gaming concept itself. For example, Formula One engines could be improved, suspension could be designed and reworked, and thus car development could provide a safe, and valuable learning mechanism for engineering students and enthusiasts.
E-Sports In the Post Covid-19 World
E-Sports have taken a considerable growth spurt with the Corona Virus outbreak. With people at home, exploring ways to keep active has grown the E-Sports audience substantially, as well as streaming related revenues.
Public comment and concern has centered on our level of modern global inter-connectivity, the role of major population densities, and the associated health and safety. What does the future hold? Although impossible to predict how the various conversations and perspectives unfold, there is little doubt that increased awareness and sensitivity from the pandemic will drive E-Sports growth further, and inspire a wave of intriguing innovations.
What's Next?
Professional organizations will continue to develop and grow and the lines should blur between physical and virtual sporting platforms - perhaps these may even combine in certain scenarios. The next 10 years should see some exciting innovations, perhaps in ways that few were expecting, popularizing E-Sports to exciting levels.
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