Esports is growing faster than ever in 2022. Here’s everything you need to know about the current esports ecosystem trends.
Esports Teams as Lifestyle Brands
As the esports ecosystem gets larger and becomes interconnected with other areas of entertainment, the esports teams take initiatives to create new brand perspectives. Many teams like 100 Thieves and FaZe Clan, have started from creating their own merch and moved on to opening their gaming house, and even gaming complexes. Some teams also acquire influencers and streamers to further strengthen their brand communication and increase their social media reach. By doing this, esports teams have become one of the biggest businesses inthe entertainment industry. They’ve also garnered a huge following, not only made up of gamers who are interested in esports but also an assortment of people interested in general social media and lifestyle.
Mobile Games in Esports
Mobile devices are a lot more powerful than they used to be 10 years ago. All of the developments in the mobile industry have resulted in the gaming industry moving onto mobile as well. Even though it only started with casual gaming experiences, it has since become a new arena of competitive gaming. Many big esports titles, like Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, Fortnite, and League of Legends have made adaptations for mobile devices. Mobile devices may be smaller than computers or consoles, however, the prize pools of these tournaments are no lessthan regular tournaments. Many professional PC or console esports players have moved to mobile versions of their games because of convenience. Not only that, but competitive mobile games also put competitive gaming in everyone’s reach. Big gaming companies also see this as an opportunity to reach new audiences.
Big Events, Big Prize Pools
Tournaments in esports have gradually become bigger and better over the years. Along with that the prize pools also got larger. There are tournaments that feature prize pools with over 30 million dollars, which means that a player instantly becomes a millionaire once his/her team finishes in the first place. Of course, the reason that these prizepools got larger was the growing interest in esports. More brands and big companies started investing in esports and sponsoring events which made events larger and larger. The growing audience also helped make events larger. Besides in-person, these tournaments are followed by millions on the internet and various streaming platforms. There are many production companies that specialize in organizing events for esports such as ESL. However, the biggest tournaments are usually organized by the game’s developer or publisher.
New Regional and Amateur Leagues
Games continue trying to widen their competitive arena by opening new regional and amateur leagues all around the world. These regional and amateur leagues help the ecosystem gain new and young professional esports players with talent, and also new audiences eager to follow a new competitive scene. They also help bring the competitive scene to countries and areas that don’t have an established competitive arena. By doing this, game companies also encourage new players to enter the competitive scene.
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality has yet to be seen in the competitive side of gaming, however, it is growing rapidly and big names ofthe gaming industry are investing in this technology. With casual VR titles growing and even passing regular games on the charts, it is inevitable that we get a competitive gaming experience on Virtual Reality. Even though the first few VR headsets were uncomfortable and tiring, there have been many improvements to elevate the gaming experience. If the controls in Virtual Reality become more precise in the future, competitive gaming in VR would be very good because of the freedom of movement. In a few years, we can see professional esports players competing against each other in Virtual Reality.
Metaverse Esports
With the emergence of blockchain technology and the term “metaverse”, the world has shifted its perspectives on gaming and esports. These new metaverses with new technologies and possibilities may be the future of esports like many other industries. In the upcoming years, the gaming and esports industry might migrate to the metaverse and each game could create its own metaverse for players to take place in and experience. Games could also use blockchain technology to store information about in-game events, items, and players. There are already gaming projects being developed on various blockchains and some of them claim to offer competitive experience in the future. We will have to wait and see where this new technology takes the esports industry.
