The eSports space has seen huge growth over the last few years in line with digital entertainment. There are a few factors that are attributed to the growth in the eSports space.
Esports earnings for players and organizations have exploded with the rise of new competitive games, modes, and consumer activity. The exponential growth was further expanded by the global pandemic.
Esports Industry Revenue Growth
The Esports industry has seen exponential growth, almost as much as cryptocurrencies. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, in 2018 the industry saw investments in the space double. Deloitte claims that major investments grew from 34 major deals to 68 in the financial year ending in 2018. The total invested saw year-on-year growth of 837%.
Esports betting has also grown immensely. Just like $1 deposit casino New Zealand, betters in Esports can have as little as a $1 bet on the winner of an Esport game or the entire tournament. Esports revenue growth will further increase this year to over a billion dollars compared to a little under that in the year prior. These funds flow to professional Esport players, Orgs, streaming services, and event managers.
Furthermore, Newzoo expects further growth in Esports in 2022. Expectations are that Esports revenue will rise to $1.8 Billion in the fiscal year. This has allowed Esport’s jobs to grow 190% in 2019 alone.
Games That Helped Esports over the Last Couple of Years
There are a few Esports that tend to stand out among the rest because of their very competitive nature. Counter-Strike is one of the first-person shooter games that became popular nearly two decades ago. The most popular edition, CS: GO was released over ten years ago and is still in heavy rotation regardless of new releases of other shooter games. CS: GO professional tournaments are still held every year too.
Today, some of the most competitive multiplayer FPSs are Call of Duty, Valorant, and Counter-Strike. Call of Duty is particularly unique since a new title of the game is released every year. With a large community of gamers that purchase and critique every new title as they see fit.
Not only have different popular games helped Esports grow over the last couple of years, but also the popular Battle Royale mode that is the most played gaming format in the world as of 2020. Battle Royale is different from multiplayer in that it consists of many teams in a single lobby, all fighting it out on larger maps until there is a final winner.
A few games have different iterations of the popular BR mode that has taken the world by storm. The earliest BR was the popular Player Unknown’s Battleground. However, BRs became particularly well known when Fortnite was released. The free-to-play BR became the most popular game in the world on release. This caused the Call of Duty franchise to jump on the BR train with the release of Call of Duty Warzone.
Battle Royales quickly became the most popular Esports game mode, with tournaments that offer up to $300,000 in prize money. Further, fueled by the pandemic and popular streaming services like Twitch, Esports has found big investors on Wallstreet monitoring and investing in the space.
The Live Streaming of Games and Tournaments
Probably the most important aspect of any form of entertainment is its viewership. The same can be said for Esports, since without all the fans the industry would not exist. It is important for Esports to have viewers, as most of the prize money comes from sponsors and advertisers.
Fans often follow their favorite gaming content creators or professional Esports on social media. The interaction between fans and Gamers on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram is also important for the gaming community and ecosystem. It’s only on social media where fans learn about upcoming tournaments, bets, or wagers.
The next important aspect is how fans and betters watch Esports. The most popular streaming platform, Twitch, has seen tremendous growth in content creation streaming and Esports events. So much so that one of the biggest Call of Duty Esports events is run and sponsored by the streaming service. Some of the most popular organizations such as Faze Clan, Karnage, 100 Thieves, and even US Army Esports partake in Twitch Esports tournaments. The most popular is Twitch Rivals.
It is also common for Esports to be streamed on YouTube and Facebook. YouTube is commonplace for tournaments to be streamed as well. YouTube is also known to host and sponsor Esports events as well.
Esports Betting and Gambling
Esports betting suddenly came about with the introduction of Esports tournaments. Esport betting has also taken off almost as much as Esports itself. Although there are tournaments for other games such as FIFA, Madden, and 2K, first-person shooters are the most popular for people who wager on Esports.
Gambling on Esports comes in a few different forms. The match-winner bet is the most popular. Gamblers can also bet on the winner of a specific map and the over/under of a game. For example, in an FPS, a gambler could bet on how many kills a player gets in a game or tournament. First Blood in shooting games is referred to as the person who gets the first kill. It is also a common betting market.
Conclusion
Esports is taking the world by storm and is becoming a favorite sector among investors and sponsors alike. As the exponential growth of this entertainment industry expands, it is expected that many more billions of dollars will be invested in this space over the next ten years. Some analysts expect other entertainment houses such as Netflix and Apple TV to get on board with Esports. It is safe to say that the industry will be here to stay.
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