Esports is booming in the iGaming industry, where the users play video games competitively. Esports covers tournaments of various games such as mass multiplayer online games, fighting games, battle games, and many more. Esports platform development solutions can prove to be engaging solutions for enhancing the overall growth of your esports business. Recently, there are a large number of organizers in the industry, who keep investing in esports business for generating huge amounts of revenue. If you have not invested in esports yet, you still have time to join one of the growing domains of the iGaming industry.
What is esports?
Esports is the short form of electronics sports, where people play video games and compete against each other in a virtual environment. Along with the traditional games, esports include games such as counterstrike, league of legends, Dota, and many more.
Esports is growing in terms of revenue as well as viewership. Youtube and Twitch are popular streaming platforms for esports. Last year there were more than 1 million viewers. There are huge audiences involved in consuming esports content because it offers a variety of games for the users as well as a huge amount of prize money for the participants.
Market overview for Esports
As per the increasing demand of the esports industry, Newzoo predicts that the growth rate of esports will be more than 12% in upcoming years. There will be 250 million esports participants, with an audience of 557 million.
Esports awareness is rising to 1.57 billion people and as per the research by the experts, by 2021 esports will generate revenue of $ 1.6 billion with more than 1 billion investments by the brands.
The highest prize money offered in tournaments has increased by more than $1.5 billion. The top esports team earned more than $20 million in prize money by playing more than 1000 tournaments. Thus with the continued growth of esports shows that brands must start into the market of esports.
Top Esports Games
There are many games involved in esports, which are categorized into the following genre:
- Real-time strategy
- Mass multiplayer online games
- Fighting games
- First-person shooter games
- Cards games
- Multiplayer online battle games
As per the viewership, popularity, and prize pools, there live some top esports games. There are different types of tournaments and competitions set-up for these popular games. The top trendy games of 2020 in esports are as follows:
League of Legends
These games were developed by Riot games in 2009. This game involves a large amount of prize money in 2019 and also considered as the most popular professional sports in Europe and the U.K. These games fall under the first-person shooter games. The specialty of the popularity of these games is that Riot Games always offer updates and fresh content for its participants and users.
Overwatch
This game has an average of $14.4 million users in the industry. It was launched in 2016 and organized tournaments for international users by Blizzard entertainment. It falls under the category of first-person shooter games and is played mostly in the United States.
Starcraft 2
The game is more popular in Korea and launched in 2010. It has a series of games involved such as starcraft 2 league, North American league, and many more. This game is in the category of multiplayer online battle games.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO)
This game is majorly popular with participants and was released in 2012. The FPS multiplayer game series is one of the most trending counter-strike series of games. Counter strike series is also known as the most influential games for the users. These games are most popular in the U.K.
Call of Duty
There are series of games available in the game with professional competitions in the market. This game is in the category of the first-person shooter genre. This game is majorly popular in the U.K, America, and Australia. There are several sponsors and publishers involved in organizing this game annually.
Dota 2
This game has been launched in the year 2013. It has been categorized in the genre of multiplayer online battle games. It is one of the most trending online streaming games. The publishers also sponsored international games under this game with the highest-paid prize pool of $ 1.6 million. Dota 2 has the biggest tournament globally.
Esports Trends for the Investors in 2020
As with the massive growth of esports, it is important for investors to know about the top trends in the esports industry. Before investing in esports, you must consider these top trends:
- As per the records, it shows that esports betting is the new trend in the industry. People prefer to play games with other people playing games. Increasing numbers of esports betting show an opportunity for investors to invest in the market. People are looking for the market and book markets which will create an opportunity for the investors to rise in the market.
- Esports involves various games such as call of duty, overwatch, counter-Strike: Dota 2, League of Legends, and many more. As the increasing technology of virtual reality increases, the VR esports scene will also grow. This will be a better opportunity for investors and could attract a large audience. VR platforms bring consumer-friendly devices for the users that also help the investors in generating huge revenue.
- As per the research, esports collect less revenue from the overall gaming market. But it gets plenty of viewers on their own channels other than formal competitions. This could be huge growth for the investors in the esports scene.
- As with time, esports is expanding its entertainment offerings. Most of the studies show plenty of space for investors. They can attract the viewers by developing unique content for the audience and long-term play with the vast potential.
Conclusion
It has been stated that the esports industry is growing rapidly in the market. Esports fans have increased over the years. The investor must keep an eye on the trends involved in the esports industry. There are different video games involved in esports, investors can promote them by offering unique content to the participants. As the esports industry is on the top, there are various opportunities available to grab the esports popularity in the market.