If you’re interested in gaming for money or prestige, you’ve probably heard of esports. While these games may seem like a joke or an illegitimate sport, these games can be immensely rewarding. Success in esports depends on concepts, hand-eye coordination, and real-time strategy. Because esports players always compete as a team, collaboration is key to success. Likewise, players must be a good sport.
esports are video games played for money and prestige
Electronic sports refer to the competition of players who play computer and video games for money and prestige. The most popular types of esports are multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games, first-person shooter games, battle royale games, card games, and real-time strategy games. Popular esports franchises include League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Overwatch, Street Fighter, and Super Smash Bros. Esports competitions are often held on a regular schedule and feature huge prize pools.
esports are a lucrative industry
As the number of people engaged in competitive video gaming grows, the industry also grows. Many top leagues have revenue-sharing agreements that redistribute their revenues to the teams. Other revenue-generating mechanisms are sponsorships, merchandising and product placements. The virtual nature of esports games provides additional opportunities, such as placing branding on player jerseys and avatar skins. For example, Samsung partnered with the game Fortnite to create an exclusive Samsung Galaxy Fortnite skin, which was only available to pre-orderers of the latest Galaxy Note 9 device.
esports are a growing trend in Asia
The competitive gaming world has experienced a boom over the last few years, and esports, or electronic sports games, are the latest trend to emerge. The growing trend has garnered massive fan bases and even been featured at the Olympic games last year. As a result, the esports industry is growing in popularity and revenue worldwide, particularly in Asia. In fact, this trend is predicted to surpass the global gaming market by 2020.
esports are a nascent industry
Esports are still in their infancy, but there are already many stakeholders in the space. The industry’s shift has been facilitated in large part by mega events. These events, which typically attract millions of fans, have spillover effects on the rest of the industry, including traditional sports. Currently, there are more than 80 major esport tournament events every year. These tournaments have created a significant market for brands that want to tap into this growing segment.
IS scholars are central to understanding esports
Understanding esports is important to IS scholars because they can add new perspectives to the existing literature on the phenomenon. Since esport is a digital-native industry, IS scholars can benefit from research on this new market. By combining artifact-centric research with other forms of research, IS scholars can better understand this new sport. This article discusses three future research directions for IS scholars who study esports.
