Pulse
ESPORTS & BLOCKCHAIN PROTOKOL
and is motivated differently to older generations — as we’ve seen with the popularity of digital collectibles and NFTs amongst gaming fans. To understand and monetise this changing fanbase, sponsors, teams and brands need more data-led insights on fan behaviour than ever before. Terefore, the work Protokol is doing around blockchain- based fan ecosystems and ways of tracking fan interactions is so important for the growth of the industry.
Te youth of the industry also cause issues for those within it. For instance, there have been a lot of concerns regarding the exploitation of players and developers, with reports of poor working environments, long hours, or a lack of nutritious food. Tis is something that desperately needs to change through increased regulation.
UTILISING BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
For non-endemic brands who are new to the esports market, as well as tech brands partnering with esports, monitoring the ROI and efficacy of their sponsorship investment can be a challenge. Fans are spread across a few different platforms and interact with teams and players in multiple ways, and it is hard to work out where conversions are coming from. Tis means it also be hard to judge the real ROI of sponsorship once a brand is embedded in the industry, despite many consumer insights upon entry into esports.
Tis is something blockchain can help address, as the technology’s transparency and security means that tracking fan interactions and sharing this with sponsors is significantly easier. Protokol can help esports teams better monitor and encourage fan engagement, allowing greater oversight, and immutable metrics than can be shared with sponsors.
Blockchain can also help overcome concerns around fair payment of esports players, following stories across the industry of winnings not being paid out. For example, blockchain-based smart contracts allow financial transactions to be completed automatically upon the execution of specific terms, preventing payments from being tampered with and ensuring each player gets paid after each tournament.
Tis provides a trusted means of payment to players, which will ensure the growth of esports, as well as providing financial privacy to players, attracting more individuals to the industry. Te transparent payments enabled by blockchain can also allow underpaid freelance workers and independent contractors more security for their payments, as well as to validate that they are receiving fair compensation.
P120 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
To understand and monetise this changing fanbase,
sponsors, teams and brands need more data-led insights on fan behaviour than ever before. The work Protokol is doing around blockchain- based fan ecosystems and ways of tracking fan
interactions is so important for the growth of the industry.
FUTURE ADVANCEMENTS
Esports is still a young industry. In the coming years as the industry matures, I’d like to see it become a safer and more rewarding environment for sponsors, players, and businesses alike. I’d like to see more sophisticated ways for sponsors to get involved in the industry and see ROI grow, as well as increased regulation to ensure a higher level of professionalism in the industry. As the sport matures, we will also see a reduction in the scandals that the industry experiences, such as match-fixing and harassment.
Something else that would be great to see in the industry is esports players being included in college programs as we see with basketball and soccer. China has already begun a recruitment process that will see it compete in esports at the Olympics. Tis move is likely to be imitated by other nations to attract international prestige. At the same time, it’s important that we see the creation of an esports players’ union, following other professional sports, to ensure that players are protected.
I’d like to see esports teams utilising blockchain to create loyalty ecosystems that reward and encourage fan engagement. Blockchain provides a great opportunity for esports teams to build up these ecosystems, and esports teams especially can reap the rewards of the technology. Loyalty ecosystems not only engage fans but can act as new revenue streams for teams, and as such are something that can have huge benefits.
Blockchain technology can also bring a lot of important advancements I’d like to see in the industry. For instance, technology like
blockchain-based NFTs allow users to securely own their in-game assets, preventing the problems that come with account theft. Blockchain can also allow players to move these assets between games, opening new avenues of value for the sector and addressing a bugbear for fans.
Multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft or Lineage are developed as walled gardens, controlled by the centralised companies that build them. Gamers want to put their own touch on the game, including mods and their own assets, and blockchain can facilitate this. With blockchain, games can be modifiable and run- on decentralised economies that reward content creators and are owned by the community. Players and developers can shape the blockchain functionality around what they want from the game instead of trying to fit what's possible on a blockchain. Tis is something we’ve seen with Nine Chronicles.
NFTs are also something I would like to see the esports industry utilising, but in new ways. Tere is a reputational risk to NFTs, which some teams aren’t considering, in that if they are bought up by crypto collectors looking for a quick buck, fans can feel short-changed. For example, this happened with the esports team 100 Tieves’ NFTs - rather than being bought by fans of the team, their NFTs were snatched up by crypto collectors. Tis led to disapproval from their fans, who accused 100 Tieves of caring more about revenue. Tis kind of occurrence can open teams to criticism that they only want to sell NFTs to make some quick funds themselves, and that they don't have fans’ interests as the centre of their activity.
To avoid this and to help NFTs reach their full potential, I’d like to see more esports teams transforming NFTs from simple collectibles to rewards. Teams can do this by attaching additional rewards to NFTs, such as offering an exclusive interaction with a player upon purchase of an NFT of their jersey. Teams can also attach extra personalisation to any NFTs they are offering. For instance, upon purchase of an NFT of a specific player’s jersey, fans could also receive a personalised video message from the player, adding an extra layer of reward into the NFTs.
NFTs are also something I would like to see the esports industry utilising, but in new ways. There is a reputational risk to NFTs, which some teams aren’t considering, in that if they are bought up by crypto collectors looking for a quick buck, fans can feel short-changed. For example, this happened with the esports
team 100 Thieves’ NFTs - rather than being bought by fans of the team, their NFTs were snatched up by crypto collectors.
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