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‘Smash’ Competitive Leagues Freak Out Over Latest Nintendo Edicts

from the nintendon't dept

For nearly a decade now, we’ve discussed Nintendo’s oddly combative relationship with the eSports community, specifically as it revolves around Super Smash Bros. tournaments. Whereas other game publishers have fully embraced these tournaments and the attention they bring to their games, Nintendo does what Nintendo always does instead: exert more and more control, pissing everyone off over disputes about the most inconsequential and minute details. Sometimes this revolves around demands for licensing to put on tournaments and sometimes it’s over the use of mods in those tournaments. In every case, it sure looks like the chopping off of Nintendo’s nose to spite its face.

But this latest iteration of Nintendo’s attempts to exert an insane level of control over these third parties has a huge swath of the competitive Smash Bros. community absolutely freaking out.

Posted on October 24 on Nintendo’s UK, Japan, and North America websites, the rules set strict limits on all “community” tournaments. According to the new guidelines, in addition to being nonprofit events, Smash tournaments would also be limited to 200 participants, unable to set prizes above $5,000, unable to have sponsors, and forbidden from using modified versions of Nintendo games, like the popular “Project M” hack of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Tournament organizers wouldn’t even be allowed to sell food, beverages, or merchandise.

While the guidelines don’t ban all commercial tournaments outright, they do require the companies behind those events to get special licenses directly from Nintendo. However, the company states that it’s “up to Nintendo’s sole discretion whether or not a licensee will be granted to a corporation or organization.” Given Nintendo’s track-record, many fans are worried this will lead some of these restrictions to trickle down to bigger esports events, or make holding a Smash Bros. tournament too much of a headache to even bother with in the first place.

In what world it makes sense for Nintendo to dictate at least some of the above is entirely beyond me. The food and drinks thing is flatly obnoxious. I’m at least a little surprised that Nintendo doesn’t have a requirement for the precise color of the urinal cakes in the bathrooms.

But this is what the company does. Given the choice, Nintendo will always choose to exert the maximum amount of control over having a vibrant community of fans and others that would actually lead to more interest in its games. And, as commenters have often pointed out in posts about Nintendo, it’s survived doing all of this thus far because enough people still buy enough Nintendo products that the company never learns a lesson. And while that may happen yet again, it’s worth noting that the competitive Smash community is fully fired up over these latest dictates.

“Ah yes, it is that time of the year where Nintendo remembers to ruin the day of every Smash player,” tweeted Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby, one of the top-ranked players in the world. “Fuck Nintendo, they are like a 5 year old screaming for attention at all times when it comes to competitive Smash,” tweeted Adam “Armada” Lindgren, long considered one of the “five gods” of Smash Bros. Melee.

Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma, one of the other “five gods,” threatened to continue running his own tournaments until Nintendo’s lawyers reached out to him in person. “I’m running Coinbox,” he said during a recent livestream. “I’m gonna keep running it in January, I’m gonna keep running it in February, March, and April, I will run it every fucking week until I receive word from them directly. I’m not going to stop out of fear. They have to come to me directly with the document. Until then I’m calling their fucking bluff.”

Now, keep in mind with all of this that Nintendo also announced in 2022 that it was partnering with a company called Panda Global to be the officially licensed partner for Smash tournaments. That came out as part of the whole licensing chaos in that same year, with tournaments suddenly getting shut down after Nintendo said they weren’t licensed to operate. There was a backlash against Panda Global and Nintendo as a result, which led to the abandonment of the Panda Global league in its infancy, but, well, it appears the new guidelines might once again be due to that rekindled partnership.

The company was supposed to have its own Smash Bros. league organized by Panda Global. However, following a drama-filled cancellation of Video Game Boot Camp’s Smash World Tour event in 2022, many accused Nintendo and Panda Global of colluding to squash competing tournaments. An ensuing boycott of Panda’s league eventually led it to disband at the start of 2023. After Nintendo announced its new tournament guidelines today, someone allegedly leaked a Panda Global pitch deck for its Smash Bros. league, and it appeared to point toward a generous collaboration between Panda Global and Nintendo—the type of competitive circuit pros have long asked for, with sizable payments to host organizers to help with costs.

Again, control, control, control. Rather than letting a vibrant, self-emerging ecosystem of fans and players spring up all over the place in tournaments far and wide, all of which serves to generate more interest in Nintendo’s games, the company instead demands control. Tournaments will happen chiefly with its preferred partner and, outside of that, only under ridiculous restrictions that basically make hosting a tournament simply not worth the trouble.

Nintendo hates you. Or, at the very least, they don’t give a shit about you.

Filed Under: competitions, esports, fans, super smash bros., video games
Companies: nintendo

Riot To Cancel Summer Esports Season Over ‘League Of Legends’ Players’ Strike

from the strikers'-riot dept

It’s been a while since we last checked in on the esports industry or discussed any milestones it has reached. For a while there, we were seeing new ground broken on a nearly monthly basis, particularly during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite all of that growth, we did mention that it was also time for the industry to grow up a bit, namely in terms of recognizing that individual players, teams, and their personalities are what is going to ultimately drive the greatest interest in these leagues, no different than any other professional sports league. Basketball is a great sport, but Michael Jordan was a driver of interest in it.

Which makes it all the more prickly to see Riot dealing with a players’ strike for its North American League of Legends league. The motivation for the strike is Riot’s plans to consolidate the current N.A. Challenger’s League by essentially eliminating more than half the teams and, consequently, paid jobs for the league.

The LCS Players Association, the body representing the region’s professional players, say the plans will see an estimated 70 people—players, coaches, etc—lose their jobs. Riot, meanwhile, say the cuts were necessary to ensure the North American leagues remain “sustainable [and] economically viable”.

Tensions escalated a day later when news emerged that pro teams had been actively looking “to field scab players”, a move that the LCSPA rightly say would “put all players’ futures at risk”, as “crossing the line undermines player negotiating power”.

Now, for its part, Riot met with the LCSPA after rumors of scabs became public and its subsequent statement on the matter doesn’t carry any indication that scab players would be sought for use. It’s actually much worse than that. First, Riot admonishes the players for seeking to establish greater salary pools for player salaries, suggesting that its “Tier 2 leagues” are getting by just fine without those larger salaries overseas. That is typical sports management talk and it doesn’t make a great deal of sense. Lower tier leagues bring in less revenue typically and therefore are provided lower salary pools. Major League Baseball serves as a prime example of this sort of thing.

But the second key takeaway from Riot’s statement is that if the players don’t move off of their demands to something Riot wants to agree to within 2 weeks, then Riot will simply shutter the league for the year entirely.

Delaying beyond the two-week window would make it nearly impossible to run a legitimate competition, and in that case, we would be prepared to cancel the entire LCS summer season. Carrying this forward, if the LCS summer season is canceled, this will also eliminate LCS teams qualifying for 2023 Worlds. I want to be clear: That is not an outcome we’d want, but it’s unfortunately the reality of ensuring we run a fair, competitive global system.

It’s all worded to sound profoundly reasonable, but it isn’t. Labor negotiations under the gun of a 2 week timeline feels self-evidently silly. But timelines like this are a common sports league vs. labor negotiating tactic. And, helpfully for the players, this transitions things from a clear players’ strike, which fans generally blame players for, and into a combination strike and owner’s lockout, which fans generally blame the owners for in other sports.

But I guess if nothing else, esports continues to mature. A big boy labor dispute is a mile marker of sorts, after all.

Filed Under: esports, labor negotiations, league of legends, players' strike, scabs, strike
Companies: riot

Sweden Abruptly Decides Esports Are Not Sports When It Comes To COVID-19 Exemptions

from the going-viral dept

We’ve marked an awful lot of progress markers when it comes to the emergence of esports into the popular lexicon throughout the world. If there were a general theme to those posts, it certainly would be the progress esports has made in being considered a real, established sport, and not just a hobby that borrows that word with no validity. Progress, as I enjoy saying, is not linear, however.

And now it appears that how at least one nation is dealing with the world’s early emergence from COVID-19 protocols, is exposing one minor step back on all the progress. Sweden was set to host Valve’s DOTA 2 big championship contest, The International, until very recently when the country’s sports federation suddenly decided that esports aren’t actual sports when it comes to COVID-19 travel exemptions. By way of background, this tournament was originally supposed to be held in Sweden in 2020, but it got pushed to 2021 due to the pandemic. As Valve planned for the event, it worked with the Swedish authorities to make sure everything was a go.

As Valve outline in a blog post, Sweden still has a number of stringent restrictions in place regarding public gatherings, which would otherwise threaten the ability to hold a big in-person tournament like The International, even though elite sporting events have been excluded from these.

Valve claims that as planning continued local authorities “continued to reassure us in our regular and constant communications with them that The International – Dota 2 Championships qualified for the same exemptions other elite sporting events there received.”

The exemption language specifically states that travel exemptions would apply to, among other categories,:

-people travelling for the purpose of performing highly skilled work, if their contribution is necessary from an economic perspective and the work cannot be postponed or performed remotely, including people who will take part in or perform necessary tasks at elite sports competitions

That sure does sound like The International would fit the categorization. Due to that and to the communication with the Swedish government, Valve planned to host the tourney in Stockholm. Then, suddenly, The Swedish Sports Federation voted to not allow any esports organizations as members. As a result, the COVID-19 exemptions no longer would apply to anyone traveling to the country for the tournament. Soccer and other sporting matches that include large crowds and international players are all moving forward; esports tourneys like The International will not.

Not wanting to give up, Valve instead asked Sweden’s Minister of the Interior to “reclassify The International – Dota 2 Championships as an elite sporting event.” Which he immediately refused. They then appealed directly to the Swedish government, and were knocked back again.

So now, as July approaches, Valve has decided to all but abandon their Swedish plans and start “looking for possible alternatives elsewhere in Europe to host the event this year, in case the Swedish government is unable to accommodate The International – Dota 2 Championships as planned.”

Now, we can argue all day long whether the world in general, or Sweden in particular, is in the right place when it comes to combatting COVID-19, whether large sporting events like this should even be held, or under what circumstances they should be held. But what doesn’t seem to make sense in any capacity is to have the approval to host this agreed upon tournament live at the pleasure of a Swedish sports organization’s opinion on whether or not esports is sports-y enough to warrant the same exemptions as other large sporting events.

Two steps forward, one step back, when it comes to esports’ place in the world alongside more traditional athletic events. And with just a dash of annoying bureaucracy to boot.

Filed Under: covid, covid-19, esports, sweden, travel

The Esports Industry Grew; Now It's Time For It To Grow Up

from the get-some-new-skin dept

As we’ve discussed for some time, the esports industry has been the subject of unprecedented growth in competitive sports. This growth trend began nearly a decade ago, but its pace steadily increased and was then supercharged by the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry is now looking back at a year when it nearly doubled in size, basking in its new found cultural position. So, the esports industry has grown. Now it’s time for it to grow up.

What do I mean by that? Well, it’s time that the industry learn the same lessons many other sports leagues have had to learn: it’s the players that drive interest among viewers. Personalities are what become popular in competitive sports and those personalities need space to shine through, rather than be muzzled. And, unfortunately, the esports industry has a nasty habit of trying to muzzle its personalities.

The most glaring example of this came during the Hong Kong protests of 2019. During those protests, many esports athletes spoke out in support for the protests. This led to those athletes being punished, including bans of high profile streamers and others. Given all that’s happened in and to Hong Kong since, it’s hard to imagine companies like Blizzard arguing they were on the right side of history when it comes to Hong Kong. Frankly, I think I’d enjoy seeing them try.

But the Hong Kong protests are far from the only example of gaming companies and esports events taking a heavy hand to silence athletes. You will recall that Nintendo, after nixing a competition over its use of a mod that basically made putting the tourney on possible, likewise nixed a Splatoon tournament broadcast for the crime of some of the players criticizing the company.

And the latest example of all of this is a Mortal Kombat player being disqualified from a tournament all for mildly chiding the game developers about an over-powered character in the game.

During an official Mortal Kombat 11 Pro Kompetition tournament on January 16, finalist Titaniumtigerzz was disqualified after jokingly calling out developer NetherRealm Studios by labeling his Sheeva variation—a personalized moveset that displays a custom name to opponents—as “WhyDidNRSdoThis.”

The disqualification made for an awkward moment on the stream. When the official broadcast cut away from the top 8 match after just a few minutes, commentators Housam “Mitsuownes” Cherif and Miguel “Darth Arma” Perez were left fumbling for words to explain what happened.

If you’re thinking that there’s no way that a player was DQ’d from a tournament simply for having that moveset name and are about to go hunting the internet for an alternate explanation…don’t bother. That really was the reason. The Sheeva character is the subject of some controversy among Mortal Kombat fans due to a specific move she does that most agree makes her overpowered and nearly impossible to defeat if used in a certain way.

The variation name, Titaniumtigerzz told Kotaku, was supposed to be a very mild criticism of Sheeva’s strengths.

“It was meant to be funny since the character I was using is basically extremely easy,” Titaniumtigerzz explained to me via DM. “The joke was, ‘Why would they make such an easy character?’”

He went on to note that it was the first time he’d used the name, that he wasn’t given any notice or warning for using it, and that he wasn’t given any opportunity to change the name. The competition rules also don’t lay out any rules for this sort of thing, but they do give tournament organizers basically full discretion when it comes to banning players for pretty much anything. Meanwhile, this whole thing backfired anyway, with gamers hurling about the #whyDidNRSdoThis hashtag on twitter.

But, Streisand Effect aside, the point is again that esports needs to grow up. Part of that maturation process is going to require growing a thicker skin. Athletes criticizing their own leagues is incredibly common in competitive sports. It’s also common to see athletes using their voices for political and social movements. And, love or hate how athletes use their voices, its those voices that fans connect with, not league executives.

So grow up, esports leagues. Let your players be heard. And if that means hearing them criticize you? Well, that’s okay too.

Filed Under: content moderation, esports

Esports' Wild 2020 Ride Culminates In 69 Percent Growth And A Continuing Rising Trend

from the esports-explosion dept

While we had covered the rise and growth of esports for several years now, readers here will recognize that 2020 became something of an inflection point for the industry. The reasons for this are fairly obvious: the cultural shutdown at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — one that shuttered nearly all IRL athletic competition — left a vacuum for viewership of competition that esports was almost perfectly situated to gobble up. Viewership exploded, as did the number of esports events. Meanwhile, the trend for IRL sports leagues, teams, and associated industries investing in esports ramped up considerably.

But now 2020 is, thankfully, behind us. And, while the world is still mired in dealing with COVID-19, IRL sports have largely come back. At the onset of 2021, now is the perfect time to ask two questions: what was the actual growth of esports in 2020 and what will it mean when the world begins to go back to a semblance of normalcy over the next year? Well, the numbers are out and they are quite impressive. The following comes from analysts at Engine Media, via its analyst experts at Stream Hatchet.

According to Stream Hatchet’s data, the pandemic’s onset in Q1 2020 caused esports streaming numbers to rise dramatically in Q2. As the year ticked on and live entertainment sports options returned, the trend continued despite the increase in online and on TV entertainment options. Stream Hatchet data showed that activity levels remained high and by year-end had increased 69% over 2019 and 81% over 2018.

There are other key points littered Engine Media’s report. Twitch doubled (!) the amount of hours watched on its platform in 2020 vs. 2019. Female game streamers in particular enjoyed a large rise in viewership. There were 355 million hours of sponsored live streams in 2020, indicating that tons of brands are wising up to the growth of the industry and trying to get in on the game. Also, the inclusion of political content on these game streaming platforms exploded as well, tied to the 2020 election cycle.

“Stream Hatchet’s data has confirmed that video games and esports have taken a huge step in popular culture. When much of the live entertainment world went dark, streaming platforms were able to captivate audiences through remote esports tournaments and exciting live streams,” says Eduard Montserrat, CEO of Stream Hatchet.

“During one of the most closely monitored election cycles in US history, younger generations turned to these platforms, and their respective influencers, to learn about the political discourse informing their decisions at the poll booths. We’re fascinated with the data points and larger media trends that are contained within this report, and are confident that 2021 will yield even more compelling insights.”

Perhaps the most important aspect of the report is that the growth trend in esports streaming didn’t stop once IRL sports came back to television. If that continues, it would indicate that the pandemic didn’t just juice esports’ growth temporarily, but rather simply supercharged a trend that would have happened regardless.

Filed Under: competition, culture, esports, sports

Esports Milestone: Esports Becomes A Medal Event At The Asian Games

from the go-for-the-gold dept

While we’ve continued to cover the rise of esports as an emerging force in the competitive games marketplace, the rise in popularity and adoption of it have started to grow exponentially. Some of this has to do with the COVID-19 pandemic, with esports first taking the place of shut-down IRL sporting events and then cementing its position as a viewing spectacle almost perfectly designed to be consumed from home. But the fact is that the growth and rise of esports was occurring prior to the pandemic and was always going to continue its rise, with professional sports organizations jumping on board, and major marketing and apparel players in the sports world jumping in as well.

But one major milestone that has eluded esports thus far has been to be included in major regional and international competitions. The Olympics, for instance, has reportedly considered adding esports to its games, but previously there has been a lot of shade thrown on the topic by IOC officials as well. That’s why it’s somewhat notable that the Asian Games in 2022 will feature esports as a medal event.

Organisers of the Asian Games that are expected to commence in Hangzhou, China in 2022 have announced that they will make esports as an official medal event, marking a historic moment in the field of competitive gaming.

In case you were wondering that such an inclusion happened all of a sudden, it actually wasn’t. In the previous Asian Games that were held in Jakarta in 2018, esports was included as a demonstration sport, featuring competition between six popular games — Arena of Valor, Hearthstone, League of Legends, StarCraft II, Clash Royale and Pro Evolution Soccer 2018. At this event, China claimed two gold medals while Indonesia, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong took one gold medal each.

In other words, while esports have had events in the Asian Games previously, this is essentially the codification for their inclusion by making them official medal events. This is notable in that the Olympics tends to incorporate the trend lines for what games to include from these smaller, regional international competitions. Does that mean we’ll definitely see an Olympic medal esports event in 2024? No, not definitely.

But the smart money would certainly be on seeing such events in the Olympics eventually, and likely in the near term, given the rising popularity of esports.

Filed Under: asian games, esports, medals, sports

Esports Milestone: The Philadelphia Eagles Become The First NFL Team To Dive Into Esports

from the first-down! dept

We’ve been talking about the growth of esports for some time here, in particular the way it has exploded in use since the pandemic first began. Still, for those of us watching the progress of esports, there are certain milestone markers you look for. Major sporting brands like Nike jumping into it is one, as is seeing the first esports company looking to be listed on a major stock exchange. But the real indicator that esports is now fully a thing is when major IRL sports leagues like the NHL, NASCAR, and MLB jump onto the bandwagon.

Still, in some of those cases, this action was taken specifically to tide the public over during the severe lockdowns in the pandemic, which by-and-large shut down IRL sports. But with the Philadelphia Eagles deciding to be the NFL’s first franchise to get into esports, it appears to be for the long haul.

The Philadelphia Eagles have named Esports Entertainment Group (EEG) as their official esports tournament provider, a first for a National Football League (NFL) franchise. The multi-year partnership will see EEG operate biannual competitions played on EA Sports’ Madden NFL title, with the gaming-focused betting company utilising its Esports Gaming League platform.

In addition, the deal sees the Eagles become an EEG shareholder. The firm was founded in 2008 and in its most recent financial filing it citied a significant uptick in its turnover, which it said had returned to pre-Covid levels.

Note: in the betting world, turnover is a good thing, as it refers to the amount of money being wagered and the amount of vig taken in by the betting platform. The notable part of this is the Eagles’ decision to become a shareholder in EEG. That indicates that this isn’t some short term play during the pandemic, which actually didn’t shut down NFL football at all, but rather a long term play aimed at riding a wave of esports’ popularity.

And the benefits here are a two-way street. With this deal, EEG can make use of Eagles players to advertise its tournaments.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Philadelphia Eagles as they introduce their fans to the world of competitive esports gaming,” said Grant Johnson, chief executive of EEG.

“The Eagles join a growing list of high-profile organisations that have chosen Esports Entertainment Group as their esports tournament provider, affording us an incredible opportunity to expand our brand reach within multiple large, dedicated fanbases and setting the stage for significant growth ahead. We intend to build on this momentum.”

If there are still doubters out there that esports is going to become a major player in the sports entertainment market, it might be time to admit you were wrong.

Filed Under: esports, football
Companies: philadelphia eagles

Not Just America: CEO Of Esports Org In India Says COVID-19 Resulted In Explosive Growth

from the going-viral dept

While we’ve covered the growth of esports throughout the world for some time, it’s also true that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in that growth accelerating with incredible speed. Back in March and April, when states began shutting down because we had — checks notes — 20k to 30k new COVID cases per day, esports really took off. Due to shut downs, IRL professional and college sports shut down too. The result is that Americans who thirst to watch competition dove headlong into esports broadcasts, with participation and viewership clipping at 20% growth month over month. An entire economy sprung up around the industry as well, with streaming companies and broadcasters catching up to the sudden rise in interest.

But if you thought this was a uniquely American thing, you’re wrong. And if you think that this wave is going to crest once we’re all putting vaccine needles in our arms, I think you’re wrong about that, too. An Indian sporting news site recently did an interview with the CEO of Skyesports, a prominent esports company in India. While you will have to forgive some translation wonkiness in them, two questions and answers jumped out at me as I read the interview. The first was about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on esports’ growth in India.

Q. Did Covid-19 really help esports in India as much as people say? Or were you expecting this kind of growth already?

Definitely, agree. Covid19 impact has amplified the gaming scene across the world. Our Viewership and user base increased 10x and we are seeing a 20x growth rate in terms of revenues for this year alone. We have created more IPs and all of this was due to covid situation.

Twenty times growth is the sort of thing industry captains salivate for. And, while it is tough to get too excited about the silver linings of a pandemic that has killed and hurt so many people, it is still true that this growth in esports is exciting for fans. With growth comes better competition, more professional broadcasts, deeper market penetration, and jobs and opportunities.

This pandemic is going to go away some day. But esports’ growth might be here to stay. Why? Well, because in many markets, such as in India, all of this growth still hasn’t scratched the surface of the potential market.

Q. Has Skyesports thought of expanding into South Asia? Where in specific?

A:In India, esports are explored by only less than 10%. There is more to explore in India before we think about stepping foot in the South Asia region. We want to grass-root in India at the largest level before thinking of other regions and we are focusing the most to conquer India. We want to take esports to nook and corner.

It’s but one anecdotal example, but an important one. Given how ripe the Indian marketplace is, and how important its economy and industries are on the world stage, an explosion of esports there is a sign of worldwide growth as well. And, the horrors of this pandemic aside, that’s fun for us fans.

Filed Under: covid-19, esports, india
Companies: skyesports

Esports March On: Nike Jumps In With Glitzy Ad While Forbes Ponders If Esports Will Be Our New Pastime

from the game-on dept

Esports continues to march down the path toward greater adoption. As we’ve detailed over many posts, esports had already become a cultural thing heading into 2020. But if anyone expected a regression back to IRL sports, the COVID-19 pandemic essentially cemented the cultural adoption of competitive video gaming. With even greater adoption by IRL professional sports leagues, and with many widely used social media platforms getting in the game and accelerating all of this, esports have continued to hit impressive milemarkers that showcase just how big this is all becoming.

It’s not slowing down. Signs of that acceleration can be seen first in a glitzy advertisement Nike has put out as it too jumps further into esports gaming.

The shoemaker has released its first-ever esports ad, coming out of Nike Greater China, showcasing how these esports athletes get their minds and bodies prepared for the challenge.

The ad shows gaming superstar Uzi – who was recently the first esports athlete to be signed by Nike – completely a rigorous (and highly entertaining) training camp. According to Nike, the ad is a reminder for these gamers to remain active and healthy in order to stay on top of the challenges of gaming – which can see top players putting in 16-hour days six days a week.

Nike jumping into this is no small thing. And, while this is an ad for the Chinese marketplace, it would be quite surprising given esports’ trajectory if we didn’t see this sort of thing in the West before long.

Along those lines, Forbes has also come out with an article asking if esports will soon be America’s chief pastime.

Compared to America’s most popular pro sports, football, basketball and baseball, Esports is small, but it now ranks with popular sports entertainment like wrestling. In 2019, according to esportsobserver.com, over 211Mwasawardedfromover4,000Esportstournaments,anincreaseof29211M was awarded from over 4,000 Esports tournaments, an increase of 29% from 2018’s 211Mwasawardedfromover4,000Esportstournaments,anincreaseof29163M prize pool.

…

Gaming is universal. The rules of the games are simple. It is simply the essence of competition. When produced for television, broadcasters can support the action with commentary, stating objectives for the game on-screen. Like golf, knowledge of the games might not be necessary at all as a games player base might be large enough to sustain eSports broadcasts, making non-player spectators a bonus, learning rules as they watch. Segments can support rules and strategies and highlights.

Will esports reach the vaunted levels for America’s attention that baseball, basketball, and football have achieved? It’s certainly on that trajectory. And the fact that publications like Forbes are even asking this question of a sport that has existed widely for less than two decades is telling. What esports really has to avoid is becoming the new World Series of Poker, where the fad fizzled out after a few years and is now relegated to niche status, albeit still popular.

But as the post points out, gaming is becoming universal. It’s already overtaken other forms of entertainment as the dominant force among young people. Why that wouldn’t translate into even further spectatorship of esports tournaments, now propelled by major brands and funding, is a question I cannot answer.

Filed Under: covid-19, culture, esports, pandemic, pastimes, sports
Companies: nike

Esports Milestone: Guild Esports Looks For London Stock Exchange Listing

from the prospecting dept

For years now, we’ve covered various milestones the esports industry has hit as it has exploded in popularity. Once relegated primarily to a few overseas markets, the past decade has seen an acceleration of the industry hitting the mainstream, from features in sports media on participants, college scholarships for esports, IRL leagues getting in the game, and even the betting markets opening up to esports gambling. While this trend began long before the world’s current predicament, it’s also true that the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered live sports for months, acted as a supercharger for all of this.

All of which contributed to the latest milestone the esports industry has managed to hit, as famed footballer David Beckham’s Guild Esports franchise has announced it plans to get listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Guild Esports, a UK-based owner and developer of esports teams, confirmed plans for an initial public offering in a statement Wednesday. The company said it wants to build a global sports franchise modeled on the English Premier League, NBA and NFL. It will float 40% of its shares next month and hopes to raise £20 million ($25.9 million) to recruit new players and invest in the business.

Beckham, a former Manchester United and England footballer, will use his global influence and following to support the Guild Esports brand, the company added. Beckham is also co-owner of Inter Miami CF, a Major League Soccer team in the United States.

The CNN post goes on to note that ad revenue in the industry for 2019 was just under a billion dollars. The point in all of this is that the difference between a beloved hobby and professional sports is the “professional” part. In other words, money. Now that esports has not only emerged as a major force in competition when it comes to ad revenues and eyeballs, but also now a place for potential owners of sporting franchises to invest very real money, the only question is just how popular and dominant esports will grow to become.

Based on the company’s plans, it has some very lofty goals.

The company plans to recruit up to 20 esports players by the end of next year, modeling player training and scouting on the talent academies pioneered by Premier League football teams.

The last milestone is probably one we’re hurtling toward at speed: when the maturity of the esports industry is so accepted that these posts on Techdirt no longer make sense to write.

Filed Under: esports, public companies
Companies: guild esports