XBOX ESPORTS “ARENA”

Xbox Unveils Arena eSports Tournament Platform and Clubs

Consoles have taken a back seat to eSports in the past few years. Almost all of the Top 10 games at any time on Twitch are on PC with Call of Duty and another random game usually making up the console contingent. Many people don’t realize that the introduction of eSports in the US was a decade ago on TV with Xbox, Halo and MLG. (Take 1min to watch that footage to see how far the industry has come). You can even make the case that the Fighter genre with Smash Bros. and Street Fighter have an even more passionate audience. However, definitely don’t think that Microsoft is turning the Xbox into a PC with their Windows 10 initiative — not happening. The mouse and keyboard gang currently rule the eSports roost.

As the industry is now in the spotlight, the big boys aren’t going to sit on the sidelines (Nintendo will support the scene but nearly as much as Microsoft will try). Although Xbox has supported Smite’s entry into eSports and Killer Instinct, it primarily relied on Call of Duty and it’s sponsorship of the annual Championship. As Sony partnered with Activision for last year’s Black Ops 3, Xbox lost a marquee name.

At E3, Xbox made its biggest move back into eSports with the launch of Arena. Before we get to that, two other features Microsoft introduced that I believe will also play a supporting role.

The first is Clubs and it’s basically LinkedIn Groups for Xbox — sorry I couldn’t resist. While LinkedIn is the least Social of the Social Networks, I think this feature could easily help groups and teams find each other and practice for eSports. If there’s a certain type of play style you prefer or want to be a part of, Clubs makes that super easy. I’m surprised it took this long to release this but glad it’s here.

The next feature is Looking For Group (LFG). While Clubs can be the community, LFG is meant for those looking for specific players and play styles to accomplish goals. I’ve lost days trying to find the right squad for Destiny and this feature solves that issue. This will definitely help with Halo eSports.

While Arena was the biggest direct eSports announcement, it had the least amount of detail. Arena is basically eSports in a nutshell but not very different than the ESL and Faceit partnership announced in March with now the addition of MLG and other publishers announced. Here’s the slate:

Microsoft: Killer Instinct, Halo Wars 2, Gears of War 4 (No Halo?!)

Killer Instinct, Halo Wars 2, Gears of War 4 (No Halo?!) Wargaming: World of Tanks

World of Tanks Hi-Rez: Smite

Smite Daybreak: H1Z1

H1Z1 EA: FIFA

Here are the two biggest questions for me:

What happens to tournament platforms in the long term if that’s their sole product? Although Xbox is partnering with these companies, I still believe that ultimately the power lies within the platform . Maybe Xbox doesn’t want to wait to implement their own tech or gather the audience and simply let others do the heavy lifting till they’re ready.

. Maybe Xbox doesn’t want to wait to implement their own tech or gather the audience and simply let others do the heavy lifting till they’re ready. What is Sony doing? Playstation has been almost non-existent within eSports. Take away the current deal with Call of Duty and the only whispers they’ve made was a French eSports league in 2015 and a “European platform” in 2014. I’ve heard nothing further outside of that press.

Following EA’s expected announcement’s and minimal info on Xbox Arena, the E3 eSports reveals have been unimpressive to say the least