On the Sidelines of the Digital Playing Field

Fortune 500 sponsorships. Sold out stadiums. Tens of millions of global viewers.

This is the world of eSports and it’s expanding at an astounding rate. While video games have been around for decades, competitive gaming at this scale is new. Increased connectivity and the emergence of free web-based games have propelled participation and cooperative play to unparalleled heights.

This increase in participation is impressive but not entirely surprising. While past generations of gamers may have had to actively seek out the hardware specific to their pastime, gamers today are already immersed in digital experiences in many areas of their lives so it makes sense that recreation would follow suit. The more surprising statistics are those concerning spectators. Millions of people are watching video games both through live streams and in person. Twitch TV, a video game streaming platform which allows players to stream feeds of their gaming sessions to spectators around the world, draws over 100 million viewers per month and was recently purchased by Amazon for $970 million in cash. In October 2014, the League of Legends World Championship sold out a 40,000 seat World Cup stadium in Seoul, South Korea. Just the year before, the same event sold out the Staples Center in LA in only an hour.

There are a few factors that make these events so compelling. First and foremost, these events bring together a community that has historically been fragmented due to hardware constraints and a lack of internet bandwidth. Second, the games being played are intensely strategic and viewing events offer a glimpse into the playbooks of the world’s elite players. Finally, the players and teams involved in professional competitions are icons with fans and followings of their own. Whether you are familiar with eSports or not, it’s not difficult to see that eSports events are successful for many of the same reasons traditional sporting events have been for decades. There are however, key differences which pose unique challenges to the viewing experience.

How do you create an engaging live viewing experience for an activity that is natively digital? There are many considerations that must be made in order to convert large scale sports and concert venues to eSports stadiums or to build event spaces from scratch. At the center of the event are the players (often in soundproof booths) and the content – the game. Screens make up the playing field. A substantial infrastructure is required to connect the audience to the game and power the viewing experience. In addition to the audio and video systems required for any type of sporting event, an eSports visual experience requires extra attention to displays that will show the most exciting points of contention on a map, each player’s in-game perspective, and the players themselves. While LCD displays are limited in size (single displays typically peak around 100″) and show seams when paneled together, LED displays, which are built using individual bulbs for each pixel, are not subject to these limitations and are capable of achieving remarkable resolution. LED video walls are infinitely scalable and provide exceptional viewing experiences from wide angles and a variety of distances offering an ideal display solution for stadium environments.

Due to the nature of video game interfaces and the massive scale of in-game maps, interactive and individualized viewing options could provide a tailored experience that would set eSports apart from other traditional events. Mobile devices receiving a live stream of the event at the event could be a great way to allow the audience to watch the feed they are most interested in following in addition to whichever feeds happen to be displayed on the big screens. Twitter sentiment analysis, live Q+A, and discussion threads could further communication between players, teams, and audience members. Of course, all of these options require substantial bandwidth and wireless support but they could blend the distinctions between players and spectators as well as the event space and personal environments.

eSporting events are still new and will likely change and improve with time. Watching the competition grow will certainly be exciting but watching the infrastructure behind the scenes in the coming years will be fascinating as well. eSports may well pave the way for totally new viewing experiences in events of all types and it will be interesting to see how technology works to bring connection and content to viewers in a merged digital and physical space.

Watch the Starcraft II session on the Planar 4K 2×2 video wall at Spye

Photo Credit: Red Bull

References:

40,000 Korean Fans Watch SSW Win 2014 ‘League of Legends’ World Championship – Forbes

Amazon Pounces On Twitch After Google Balks Due To Antitrust Concerns – Forbes

Booths in the GSL continue to receive critisicm as Jung ‘Rain’ Yoon Jong claims the soundproofing is lacklustre – onGamers

Ilyes ‘Stephano’ Satouri: “I didn’t sign it [my contract] as a return to SC2” – onGamers

In E-Sports, Video Gamers Draw Real Crowds and Big Money – NYT

League of Legends Finals Sells Out LA’s Staples Center In An Hour – Forbes

LED Video Walls – Planar

Twitch’s Viewers Reach 100 Million a Month – WSJ