Amazon announced on August 25th 2014 the acquisition of the video games streaming platform Twitch, created in 2011, for 970 million dollars. On the website twitchalert, which allows to display in direct donations and subscriptions of the streamer’s channel, indicates, on December 3rd 2015, that 722,975 are using it, for a total of $43,345,995 collected donations. Let us be clear: despite cultural resistances, the E-sport’s market is as young as lucrative.
E-sport: instructions
Esport – or electronic sport – could be defined like a form of sport based on the connection between a person and his computer. To organize offline or online video games’ competitions isn’t new: the LAN-parties are probably as old as video games themselves. The novelty is that participation and spectatorship of organized competition cuts increased in popularity in the late 2000’s and the early 2010’s. Those kinds of events, formerly booked to the amateurs, are today the prerogative of professional players – or pro-gamers (PGM).
The rise which the field takes is truly impressive: a little more than 60,000 French people watched live final LCS Europe of Spring Split, a League of Legend based on competition. At the time of The International 2015, which is basically the world’s championship for the video game Dota 2, more than $6,000,000 of cash price were given to the winner: the Evil Genuises team. Within this framework, many players acquired a status of star, such as athletes of basketball or football.
However, many still think that pro-gamers aren’t sportsmen. Do not mislead you there: the future is on e-sport’s side, even if e-sport does not have an official standing in many countries, including France. A lot of resemblance between pro-players and pro-gamers can be found: intense and regular training, clubs, agents, fans, team spirit and awards. Excellence is the heart of the video games competitions. When a stadium is fully booked by thousands of fans who want to see their favorite team fight for the win, all ingredients seem united to speak unashamedly of sport.
The growing interest of the investors
A few years ago, players had only cash prices for a living. Nowadays, according to the website www.esportsearnings.com, 318 pro-gamers would gain more than $100,000 a year. If it seems important to approach these numbers with prudence, testimonies of underpaid pro-players being legions, one thing remains: earning his life with video games is, for some people, a real thing.
Whereas the interest for E-sport grows, investors and advertisers embrace the market. Thus one can note that an independent economic ecosystem was set up. Why is this market interesting? Because of the link between the pro-gamers and their fans. They are all gamers, part of the same subculture, sharing references, words, a whole virtual universe together. Gamers are usually less receptive to classical promotion and publicity, their way of communication being really different from classical media. With e-sport, things are easier: every gamer is a consumer, with targeted spending habits proper to this video game subculture. Such proximity and particularities make of them a significant and specific target customer base for energy drink, junk food and computer devices.
Many brands specialized to propose gaming keyboard, computer mouses or screens – Razer, Roccat, Logitech – and regularly sponsored pro-gamers. From Messi’s shirt to Fnatic’s chair, the marketing line seems really thin. This market has its own codes. To understand and to adapt them is a majorstake for the investors, but is, without any doubt, extremely profitable.
Next step: to define a legal framework to legalize and stabilize the situation. A story to be followed.
Thomas Tritsch
