It’s hard to miss how popular and essential esports are becoming, even if you don’t know what a “split-push” or a “power spike” is.
Competitive gaming had another great year in 2022, with hundreds of millions of people playing and watching around the world, partnerships with Gucci, BMW, and Coca-Cola and a show at the Commonwealth Games.
So, what do traditional sports’ louder younger siblings plan to do in 2023 to keep this trend going?
For those who still need to be sure, esports refers to a wide range of competitive video games pros play worldwide. Events, which are often held in stadiums and shown on TV, draw large crowds. Because of this, it is thought that the esports market will be worth $1.9 billion (£1.4 billion) by 2025.
The founder of Esports News UK, Dominic Sacco, says that the industry must first come to terms with fundamental changes in how much of it will be organized before it can continue to grow and attract bigger audiences.
At the beginning of 2022, a group backed by the Saudi Arabian government bought ESL and FaceIt, two of the biggest companies that run esports tournaments worldwide. This deal was worth $1.5 billion (£1.2 billion), and it’s just the beginning. The Saudi government-backed Savvy Gaming group wants to invest $38 billion (£31 billion) to make the country a global hub for esports by 2030.
Sacco says that the deal has divided the esports community. Some people are happy about the investment because they think it will help the industry grow. However, he adds, “Some LGBTQ talent is afraid to fly to events in Saudi Arabia, and many other people in the community have said they feel uncomfortable going there. For example, last summer, a Rocket League team refused to participate in an event there.”
Saudi Arabia has recently been accused of “sports washing,” which means spending a lot of money on popular sports like buying Newcastle Football Club or starting the new LIV golf tour. Some say it’s done to draw attention away from its record on human rights.
Sacco says that some people in the esports community feel like the same thing is happening to them, draining some of the energy and excitement from the scene.
If the trend continues as expected, players, presenters, commentators, and event organizers could spend more time in 2023 having serious ethical conversations about which events to attend. If the fights that broke out when LIV golf was made are any indication, it will be talked about for a long time.
How has Esports influenced culture?
The Global Head of League of Legends (LoL) Esports, Naz Aletaha, says that the key to growth in 2023 and beyond is to remember their core fans while looking for new ones. But sometimes things are better on the other side.
Instead, she says it’s about making content that “hyperserves” the existing community and gives others a reason to care about the sport.
LoL will start its 13th season in 2023. Along with DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike, it is one of the “big three” esports. At the 2022 World Championships, players vied for a piece of the £1.8 million prize pool.
The size and number of people who could be interested are important. Aletaha says, “Over 600,000,000 people have played and kept playing LoL.” That’s a lot of people who could keep watching the show and keep the numbers going up.
Aletaha and her team do everything they can to make their sport as interesting as possible for the people who already know their game, the rules, and the universe.
Their annual World Championship event, which Aletaha calls their “North Star,” is the main way they turn this crowd into more dedicated esports fans.
In 2022, Lil Nas X played at Worlds, the League of Legends’ version of the Super Bowl. The LoL boss says that big events like this will continue to bring in more casual fans because they create stories.
She says that the goal, which is unlikely to be reached by 2023, is to make the annual event as big as the World Cup, not just because of the action but because “they’re just such culturally important moments.”
Sacco agrees that set-piece events are essential to the growth of esports in 2023, not just for LoL but for many other games as well.
He says that having big esports events in the UK is the best way to get mainstream and cultural recognition, but he’s worried that other places are better suited for that right now.
In 2023, more events will combine real and virtual sports. For example, in the summer, traditional sports and the Olympics will host an esports test event in Singapore that lasts four days.
But Sacco is unhappy about this turn of events. Instead, he says that the International Olympic Committee should figure out what makes esports so popular and focus on games that already have solid competitive scenes, as the Commonwealth Games did in 2022.
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Before he thinks the esports community will be interested in the Olympics in a meaningful way, he thinks they need to play these games.
He says, “To quote esports commentator Paul Chaloner, the Olympics need esports more than esports needs the Olympics.” He says this because the IOC wants more young people interested in the Olympics.
Whether or not he’s right, 2023 looks to be another busy and challenging year for competitive gaming.
