E-Sports
Points covered by my lecture:
What are e-sports?
Brief summary of the history of competitive gaming.
E-Sports today.
An analysis of the growth of e-sports, and the debate of their validity
as an entertainment medium; mainly, do they generate enough revenue from
spectators and events?
What type of games are most commonly played on a competitive stage and
why.
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General Definition:
The Competitive play of video games
however, the term is usually used to describe games that are
by nature set up with clear and decisive rules that
determine a winner and loser, and have a professional
'scene'
Today, games -MUST- be playable over a network connection
Often highly 'skill' based
These games might seem somewhat straight-forward or
simple at first glance, but almost always have incredible
depth to their game-play.
Few random factors to determine outcome
'Skill' based game-play
The use of skill in this case isn't exactly how we would use the word
with other sports/competitions
Most games that are successful in attracting a large spectator crowd
are complex in how they are played by the user, but 'simple' to
watch.
Game knowledge is just as, if not more, important!
Example: League of Legends, Starcraft 2, Street Fighter
Games reward/punish high-risk / high-reward plays
adds entertainment value for spectators
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Competitive games played by amateurs
Amateur audiences watch pro-games to learn
Commentators/Shout-Casters often spend time explaining in detail why
players do certain things.
A 'reason' to watch
Success of most communities depends on the casual player's
willingness to watch!
Most games advertise through their game client.
Some games 'draft' top tier amateurs.
A History of Nerd Rage
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Early Arcade Tournaments : Atari: 1980, Nintendo;1990,
Blockbuster/GamePro; 1990s
Billy Mitchell
Netrek – 1986; cross platform open-source. Unix.
first online team competitive game
still played today
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Early PC FPS era: doom,quake, later-CounterStrike **irc
organization
Rts era: Age of Empires 2, Starcraft, Warcraft3
World Cyber Games – 2000, MLG – 2002
South Korea and Europe
Nerd Rage Today
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Most games organize their player-base themselves rather than
relying on third parties, such as IRC – more advertisement
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Company sponsored/organized tournaments
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CSL
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Professional Gamer Teams and Houses
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Sponsors
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Popular competitive games today
Starcraft2, League of Legends, Dota2, Street Figher4, Halo4,
Call of Duty, ect
The pro-gaming scene of today
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Streaming : twitch-tv / justin-tv
tv broadcasts (not successful thus far in America D: )
Barcrafts
E-Sports 'Celebrities' : DJ wheat, day[9], totalbiscuit
~10k viewers daily
Recent events and growth
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League of Legends world championships
8.2 million unique viewers
1.1 million viewers at peak
8k spectators in-house
2 million$ prize pool
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MLG Dallas
League of legends, Starcraft2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.
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~300k viewers
Engagement : ~150 minutes **more than the super bowl**
95% completion rate on ads
170k total prize pool
What makes a game a good
candidate for competitive play
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Give players a sense of 'advancement'
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Replay / Spectator modes 'lol-replay, sc2-replay'
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A means for regulating game length. Can't be too short or too long.
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Home-screen designed to allow information and ads to be delivered
from the community managers to the player base (not product ads!)
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Usually follow the rule of 'easy to play, difficult to master'
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Minimal RNG factor
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Perfect server-structure -lag is bad-
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Periodic updates / balancing
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Clear and definitive win/lose conditions
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Visual/Audio ques for audience
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Hiring the right commentators
Sources
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steel series
http://steelseries.com/us/gaming/esports
razer http://www.redbull.com/uk/en/stories/1331586144954/razer-gaming-interviewconsole-esport
twitch-tv/justin-tv streaming services
http://www.gamespot.com/news/blizzard-mlg-twitchtv-execs-speak-on-rise-of-esports6405233
http://gosugamers.net/lol/news/21603-official-viewership-of-world-championshipsboasts-largest-in-e-sports-history
http://www.couchathletics.com/content/344-The-Rising-Viability-of-E-Sports *****
http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/tech/post/_/id/3979/league-of-legends-mimicsregular-sports***
http://www.team-dignitas.org/articles/blogs/Interview/2200/Interview-with-TeamParadigm-Is-GW2-a-viable-eSport-/