TECH BY TES
Esports & Gaming Industry On The RISE During Pandemic By Dean Hayes Esports is a term we’ve seen lots of during this pandemic, but one not always understood. So . . . what is it? Esports or Electronic Sports, is the newest form of sport to hit the mainstream, and put in simpler terms, is organized, competitive video gaming. It is a rapidly growing industry with an expected global market revenue on track for almost $1.6 Billion USD in 2023 according to Statista (bit.ly/3dshH56). With companies like Riot Games and their wildly successful free-to-play games like League of Legends and Valorant, or Epic Games’ popular Fortnite title, gamers have been practicing hard for the big wins, bringing home as much as $3 million USD. Ok, but how does the pandemic play into all this? While global revenue has decreased for esports in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic, it has only pushed esports and gaming further into the limelight, as traditional sports have had to turn to their video game counterparts to keep their audiences. Great examples of this movement are Formula One moving to launch a Virtual Grand Prix Series with F1 drivers competing online in the game F1 2019, as well as NASCAR, NBA, and NHL teams offering to finish their seasons online. See this Esports Insider article (bit.ly/2A2Brys) for a more in-depth read. Large sports organizations aren’t the only ones hopping on board lately either. With both St. Clair College and now, recently, the University of Windsor having started a varsity esports program, it has been increasingly harder to ignore the value of adding esports to their sports programs. We see it all the time at EZY Mode esports
lounge, young individuals coming in to train on their favourite video game, hoping to be the next collegiate (and maybe global) star, with the full support of their parents to make their dreams come true. What does all this mean for the future of esports? Well, as stated previously, esports and the gaming industry have already been rapidly growing, with streaming sites like Twitch.tv helping build the concept of watching players do what they do best. Coupled with massive full-production events like OverWatch League (OWL), Call of Duty League (CDL), and Dota 2 Internationals, the concept of making a living playing video games now doesn’t seem like the silly dream it was before. Mix in the adoption of esports by traditional sports due to COVID-19 shoving it further into the spotlight, and you have a cocktail for massive worldwide growth. “Tech Bytes” is powered by WEtech Alliance (WEtech-Alliance.com). The guest columnist for this issue, Dean Hayes, is Co-Founder and Head of Technology at EZY Mode esports lounge (EZYmode.ca). As an alumni of St. Clair College’s Computer Systems — Technology program and past President of the Information Technology Club, he has been dedicated to growth of the tech/gaming industry in Windsor Essex for over six years.
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