Esports & Gaming Roundtable
What are the top esports games? Mike Hart, Box: “Tere’s somewhat of a disparity between the most viewed streamed games online and competitive prize money available, which is where the majority of esports teams will focus their efforts. Games like GTA V are immensely popular with streamers and viewers, but offer little to no competitive action in a repeatable form. As such games like Dota 2, League of Legends, CS:GO and Fortnite remain the popular choices for esports players, although when it comes to the list of available games with competitions and healthy competitive player bases, you would be surprised at how many diverse options are out there.”
“Adding esports as a pilot event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham is a big development, for the important reasons already mentioned such as opening up to a wider audience.”
Toby Roberts, Wired2Fire: “Even though there are countless multiplayer games out there, only a select few attain the enviable position of becoming regular fixtures in esports. Valorant, Counter Strike, League of Legends, Fortnite and Call Of Duty are the biggest names that come to mind, with some such as Starcraſt remaining popular in Asia, even though the original game is now a few decades old.”
What are the commercial opportunities in esports? Mike Hart, Box: “Any content that commands a regular and growing viewership will always attract advertising in both
physical and digital forms. Advertising on players shirts, pre and mid-roll adverts, right the way through to the equipment each player uses all present advertising opportunities. Tis provides a fantastic opportunity to situate gaming related brands, products and resellers in content geared for their prime target market. Extending past the many advertising opportunities, esports has the ability to create and host live events, attracting even more commercial income. With various bespoke and adaptable venues across America and Europe, theirs plenty of scope for esports to create its own tentpole events on the scale of the Super Bowl, World Cup or even Olympics in the not so distant future.”
Toby Roberts, Wired2Fire: “For manufacturers of peripherals and PC components, having a product that can offer a genuine advantage to gameplay performance in competitive titles will certainly generate interest and can make a big difference to sales. So product design and marketing is moving in that direction, which is why we’re now seeing PC displays with refresh rates as high as 360Hz, and a lot of attention paid to button configurations on keyboards and mice.”
What esports partnerships are you currently involved in if any, or the most notable you can identify within the esports sector? Mike Hart, Box: “At present Box aren’t involved with any esports partnerships, but it is something we’re actively perusing. A large part of our customer-base and our audience in general is heavily invested in gaming, both on console and PC. As such the union here between that audience and esports makes for a very appealing industry for Box to get involved in. A notable partnership that has came to our attention, has been Faze Clan’s deal with McDonalds. Whenever a household name gets involved within an emerging sector, it will always send signals to others that this market is something to keep a watchful eye over and that’s exactly what this collaboration has done. McDonald’s are clearly looking for new and exciting ways to stay in front of younger viewers who’ve moved away from traditional media and esports represents the perfect way to do so.”
Toby Roberts, Wired2Fire: “It’s not an area Wired2Fire is currently involved in but it is something we’re looking into.”
What are the current global developments in esports that you know of? Mike Hart, Box: “With more and more streaming enabled devices in our hands globally and faster on the go connectivity, the growth for consuming esports content seems limitless. An effort to develop esports in emerging markets such as Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East will be at the forefront of the scene’s expansion in years to come.”
Toby Roberts, Wired2Fire: “Te 2022 acquisition of ESL Gaming by Saudi Arabia’s
36 | March 2022
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