The Rise to Prominence and Future of eSports

By NS

In this modern world, we constantly see ourselves on the verge of the next best thing. Technology constantly grows and evolves, entertainment and the arts change rapidly as the years pass. However, in the mainstream it appears that one thing has remained stagnant: our sports. Football, basketball, baseball, soccer, all classic sports rule the airwaves and television. Indeed, these have each turned into multi-billion dollar industries the world over with massive followings. However, somewhat unbeknownst to the general public, a growing trend known as “eSports” or “electronic sports” has gained large followings the world over. In its ability to generate revenue, the professionalism of its participants, and its place in society, eSports is similar to traditional sports. In the coming years, we will see eSports take a place of prominence similar to traditional sports.

eSports is a term that refers to a wide variety of disciplines and genres of game and dates back to 1997 with the Red Annihilation tournament for Quake 3. As early as 2000, tournaments emerged with over $300,000 in prize money, and the idea of becoming a “professional” gamer came with it. Lim “BoxeR” Yo-Hwan was one of the first professional Starcraft players and has won over $400,000 in tournaments with an income of $90,000USD a year in endorsements (Staebell). eSports now features real time strategy games (RTS), first person shooters (FPS), racing games, even video games of traditional sports (1) .

eSports is already a rapidly expanding industry and it’s worthwhile to note the similarities between traditional sports and eSports in terms of industry and money. eSports features professional, corporate sponsored teams with professional players. These players will compete in internationally televised tournaments with thousands of live spectators and many hundreds of thousands of spectators streaming the games through various websites like Twitch.tv and Teevox. Professionals make more than enough money to live on; the Starcraft 2 player with the most tournament winnings since the game came out in summer of 2010, Jang “MC” Min Chul, has won in excess of $250,000 USD from more than 20 tournaments in the two years since Starcraft 2 has come out (Jang). As for teams, the Starcraft 2 team with the most winnings is team Incredible Miracle, taking in well over half a million dollars in tournaments. In addition to tournament earnings, teams are also sponsored by companies such as Coca-Cola, Razer, Steel Series, Intel, Monster Energy and AMD. In an interview, Stephen “Destiny” Bonnell II said that, “I started playing Starcraft 2 competitively when I realized I could make more money playing Starcraft II than if I was working at a conventional job. Before I became a professional gamer I worked at McDonalds, I worked as a supervisor in a casino restaurant, and I worked for a carpet cleaning company.” (Bonnell). For those with an adequate amount of skill and devotion to a game, professional gaming is a viable option to provide financial support for oneself (2).

In the Industrial Revolution, society saw a newfound appreciation for and emphasis on physical fitness and agility (Wagner). Physical prowess was exhibited and competition came in the form of what I will refer to herein as “traditional sports.” These include activities like baseball, football, soccer, hockey, and the like. Today, these have grown to multi-million dollar industries, and individuals make careers out of becoming professional players, commentators, managers, and trainers for these sports. For eSports, there are even “team houses” in which players spend their days practicing and developing their skills. Professional Starcraft 2 players have been known to play upwards of 60 games a day, not dissimilar to an athlete who spends time practicing their sport or becoming stronger or faster.

There is now a new revolution, that of information. In addition to the invention of computers and subsequently the internet, there is a new society based around information and peoples’ ability to understand, synthesize, and use the vast amount of information we have access to. This manifests itself in one way as video games. Video games have become a large part of the youth culture of today and as we move into the future they will be more ensconced in many aspects of society. eSports is the result of a youth society that embraces video games as a source of entertainment, and indeed, we see that eSports is growing in similar ways to traditional sports (Wagner). We also see a rise in prominence of eSports in forward thinking, technologically minded countries like South Korea, where eSports as a whole has grown to be one of the nation’s most viewed sports, similar in popularity to American football.

There are several obstacles for eSports to overcome in order to gain mainstream acceptance, and these issues can only be overcome with trial and error or by simply giving eSports time to develop. One major fault is part of what makes eSports so interesting. Because there is not one prominent game that is vastly more popular than any other, it is difficult for one game to gain a foothold in mainstream society. What’s often the case is that professional leagues have a strong following among those that already play the game, but there is not a large following outside people who do not know the game. Typically, games are complex and for those with no knowledge of the game, it is difficult to enjoy the level of the skill of the players without the viewer knowing the objectives, rules, limitations, and options of a player(3). Without one game to follow in and out of generations, it's impossible to establish the “time honored tradition” aspect that makes traditional sports quite appealing to some (Frank).

The simplest way to overcome these problems is to monitor the growth of certain games and encourage them when positive indicators are present. Paying close attention to what works and what doesn’t, and what’s appealing to the fans is the best way of giving eSports time to develop, and the biggest thing eSports needs in order to gain mainstream acceptance is time and an increasing prominence in society.

Although the idea may seem ridiculous to some, eSports has grown from an oddity with a cult following to a multi-million dollar industry within 15 years, and it doesn't show any sign of slowing down. As we live in a society that emphasizes “digital fitness” and our youth spend their time playing video games, we see video games holding an important place in society. We already see professional gamers supporting themselves with eSports, and in the future this will become less and less of an oddity as eSports grows increasingly mainstream.

Footnotes

(1)An interesting aside is that traditionally, western audiences strongly prefer team-oriented games, such as first person shooter teams, while eastern audiences prefer solo/ one on one games such as real time strategy games.

(2)While some may regard playing video games as a leisurely activity, as Shaun Hutchinson, a Machinima (video game film) maker says, “Emotionally, it's as taxing as any high stress job. Then again, playing games at work is awesome.” So, there are some aspects of fun that are retained, but for a professional gamer or someone who works with video games all day, it does very much become their “work” (Hutchinson)

(3)The rules of Starcraft are vast. The game features 3 different races, each utilizing around 30 units requiring different balances of three different resources. Much of the skill of Starcraft comes from being able to understand what your opponent is doing based on the units and buildings they reveal to you or you “scout” on your own, and making the appropriate decisions. For example, an opponent may be trying to hide a building that allows him to make a certain unit for a surprise attack. If his opponent stumbles upon this building or discovers it, the advantage he had is gone. As viewers have a view of the entire battlefield and “casters” or commentators keep track of what’s going on, much of the excitement for a Starcraft spectator is being privy to knowledge that one player doesn’t have, and the anticipation of what will come of it is what builds excitement (Cheung).

Bibliography

Cheung, Gifford, and Jeff Huang. "Starcraft from the Stands: Understanding the Game Spectator."

University of Washington, 2011. Web. 18 April 2012

Frank, Nicholas Kevin. "Electronic Sport: Computer Games and Convergence." Web.

Hutchinson, Shaun “IAmA Hutch and I make Call of Duty videos and put them on the internet”,

Reddit. Interview. Web. 20 May 2012

"Jang "MC" Min Chul." SC2 Earnings. SC2Earnings. Web. 10 May 2012.

<http://sc2earnings.com/player/151/jang-min-chul>. 4 May 2012

Staebell, Brett. "BoxeR in Brief." The Escapist. Themis Media, 6 Apr. 2010. Web. 7 May 2012

Bonnell, Stephen. "Meet the Team: Stephen "Destiny" Bonnell II." Interview by Gavin Weeks. Quantic

Gaming. Quantic Gaming, 8 Nov. 2011. Web. 2 May 2012

Wagner, Michael G. "On the Scientific Relevance of ESports." Danube University Krems. Web. 22