Fixing the Esports Model, Part 1

The competitive gaming scene for the past decade and a half has compared itself to that of conventional professional sports, calling itself esports. There are many similarities between these two areas of entertainment, but there are also vast differences. However, there is a course of action for esports to become more similar, and structured, like sports. The current “esports” model is very inadequate in several different facets of the market. If these issues are resolved, which aren’t a quick fix, then the opportunity for long-run stability and growth is achievable.

One of the primary issues that needs to be addressed is league infrastructure. Currently all, except for one, games that are played competitively have 3rd Party Organizations that own and manage the leagues. Ten years ago this was practical, esports was a much smaller market with less viewers and sponsors. Currently, esports is a multibillion dollar industry that still has the same league infrastructure. In the past players have complained about playing in major leagues and tournaments that were not paying them their earnings. This also happened with gaming organizations not paying their players. At least they were on par with the Turkish basketball teams that were notorious for doing the same. The solution to league infrastructure is rather simple, look at the existing, successful models used in professional team-based sports around the world. The NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, FIBA, and FIFA are all wonderful examples, well maybe except for the latter. There is a major commonality that all of these leagues have. They are the governing bodies of their sport as well. In other words, they are the developers of their respective games, and they control every facet of how the game is played. These organizations govern the game on a global or regional level. Only one game has a similar league structure, League of Legends. The game is also played live and in a LAN (local area network) setting, this eliminates the chance for players to use cheats/hacks to enhance their performance. At least these PEDs aren’t causing the one eyed giant to turn into the one eyed… where is it? EA recently announced the creation of their own league called the World League, which is a huge step forward for the Call of Duty competitive community. Valve has made no announcement in regards to league development for either Dota 2 or CSGO. They do have The International for Dota 2, which had the largest prize pool for a tournament this year. But let’s not get away from the bear in the room. The developers of their respective games are the only ones that have the capacity of maintaining their game and making certain that it continues to be relevant. In 2014, Riot Games announced that it was going to give a graphic facelift to League of Legends, because they realized that it was outdated and didn’t look appealing to the average viewer. The purpose was for both the competitive and non-competitive players. Other developers have done the same, i.e. counter-strike, but they disregard the competitive aspect of the game and in so doing can be the very hand that suffocated their games competitive scene. I’m referring to id Software, post-quake3, and also the rift caused by CS: Source. The approach that Riot has taken for its LCS has allowed for further branding opportunities by live streaming on the same days and at the same times so as to create a level of consistency for its viewers.

I want to make it clear that tournaments run by 3rd party groups are not necessarily a bad thing, and should continue to occur. But, it is important that the game developers work with these 3rd party organizations so that all facets surrounding the tournament (infrastructure, game rules, player protection, etc) meets the required standards that the developers have.

This is merely one step of many that are necessary for game developers to make if they want the competitive aspect of their games to thrive in the long-run.