The Esports Journal - Edition 13 by Esports Insider

CONTENTS

In this Edition

Sand Dragons How Pakistan became Tekken’s best-kept secret Arlan ´Ash´ Siddique Professional fighting game player

A Troubled Timeline Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition

Is Indian Esports Going Too Fast? Promised Land — or house of cards?

A digital version of this magazine will also be available on Esports Insider’s website

06 The King is Dead, Long Live the King! CS:GO: An obituary of your favourite first person shooter’s favourite first person shooter.

14 From Chess Boards to Farm Fields The rise of niche esports titles.

18 The Evolution of Skin Wagering From betting exchanges to predatory casinos.

48 Celebrating The Future A case study on Confetti’s esports production complex.

52 Questing for the Grassroots How SideQuest’s gaming cafes bring esports to the masses.

56 Good Comms Discord and its harmony with esports.

22 Fighting Back Why the Fighting Game Community is poised to enter a new golden era.

26 Inside the Data Pipeline

Visit our site: esportsinsider.com

Unlocking stats and secrets through data.

30 Blue Moon Rising

How Man City is tackling esports.

36 Esports Data’s Rise to Relevance How unlocking data doors shifted the esports ecosystem.

40 Out of Stock? The rise and fall of esports investments.

This magazine includes some advertiser-supported content, which has been clearly labelled where appropriate.

Dear reader, The leaves are falling and the days getting shorter as we stumble into Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. In esports, though, there’s already a crisp chill in the air — so make sure to keep warm with a hot drink in one hand and a brand new copy of The Esports Journal in the other. Since we last put pen to paper for Edition 12, an extant industry correction colloquially dubbed the ‘esports winter’ has taken firmer root. Player salaries are correcting, unsustainable businesses closing, many are pivoting and others diversifying, and consolidation has amplified. Yet the core value proposition behind esports remains unchanged. That people like playing video games, that some people like watching video games, and that some of those like watching people play video games competitively, remains as true if not more so than it has ever been. CS:GO, for example, was breaking all-time player count records even before Counter-Strike 2 launched.

The question, then, is not whether esports can work but how it should work. Reflecting that philosophy, we’ve seen the emergence of a new, more measured yet sanguine approach adopted by stakeholders. Realism is now in vogue, and sustainability front and centre. Nihilism is being replaced by pragmatism. In that sense, the title of this edition (a British turn of phrase and the headline of our first article) works as a double entendre. Like Counter-Strike, we’re leaving the old way of doing things behind.

reflection on the history of one of the greatest shooters ever, a timeline of an industry-defining deal (we’ll let you guess which), and numerous profiles of companies that are integral to or innovating in the space.

There are still plenty of difficult questions facing esports — including morally fraught ones about who gets to lead it. Yet, while an ‘esports spring’ is still a ways off, it’s worth thinking about what spring might look like.

Happy reading,

In this edition, you’ll find several articles that introduce and analyse various aspects of the industry globally. We’ve told the stories of some of esports’ most interesting protagonists, both the obvious and the invisible. We’ve a

About the front cover The front cover art for this edition was produced by Brock Hofer, the creator of the Hyper Beast in-game skin line in Counter-Strike — one of the most recognisable, visually captivating (and pricier) cosmetics in Counter-Strike’s in-game economy.

Brock Hofer is now a full time illustrator based out of the east coast of Canada. From an early age he’s been interested in art, drawing with whatever materials he could get his hands on. For the past seven years, Brock has worked professionally illustrating neon infused monsters for various clients around the world.

At this critical, exciting and important juncture for esports, we’re proud to present an edition of The Esports Journal that we hope shines a light on the challenges and opportunities of our modern and valuable sector. Sit down, have a flick through, and enjoy!

Jake Nordland

Meet the Team

Sam Cooke

Jake Nordland

H.B. Duran

Ivan Šimić

Editor ESI & ESJ

Dominic Sacco

Riccardo Lichene

Freelance Journalist

Journalist ESI & ESJ

Tom Daniels

Editor ESJ & Features Editor ESI

Managing Director & Co-Founder ESI & ESJ

Editor & Founder, Esports News UK

Freelance Journalist

Guest Authors

Michael Moriarty

Freelance Journalist, ex Wolves Esports Manager

James Ransome

Business Development Manager, Ross Video

Ranjit Patel

Esports host, commentator, analyst

Ben Steenhuisen

Senior Software Architect, Bayes Esports

Ollie Ring

Esports consultant, author

Ben Goldhaber

Esports entrepreneur, Snr. Director of Marketing, Forge

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The King is Dead, Long Live the King! CS:GO: An obituary of your favourite first person shooter’s favourite first person shooter AUTHOR Michael Moriarty  @DuckMoriarty

hen we talk about esports, a lead example many often go for is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). And why not, with the game being the jewel in the crown of a series that can claim over two decades of history. One of the ‘big three’ global esports titles, it attracts millions of viewers to its events, boasts

Image credit: BLAST

an exceptionally strong player base, and is considered one of the more stable esports ecosystems — despite having been released over a decade ago. It’s been a long journey for CS:GO, from its initial release in 2012 all the way through to today. It managed to do something that the much maligned

predecessor CS:Source and the oft-deliberately forgotten Condition Zero didn’t, reuniting the competitive community into a single game for the first time since 2004. It has this unique hold on players and viewers that keeps bringing you back for more, a timeless quality few other esports titles have managed to achieve.

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The 2013 Arms Deal update was the first big push after the game’s launch, offering further refinement and new features. This is partly why so many players piled out of 1.6 and finally moved for good into Global Offensive. Weapon skins that could derive real world value, thanks to the Steam marketplace and trading platforms kicked off the growth of CS:GO. And then, the big one. The first proper Valve-funded tournament: The DreamHack Winter 2013 Major. Back before the sports stadiums and sky high production values, the first CS:GO Major was held in a relatively small, unassuming convention centre in Jönköping, Sweden. For all intents and purposes, from the outside looking in it was just a reasonably normal tournament held in CS:GO’s heartland of Sweden. And, in no real surprise, it was an all-Swedish affair in the final where Fnatic took that first title with a win over Ninjas in Pyjamas. The next Major, EMS One Katowice 2014, was the first sea change for CS:GO. Hosted in the massive Spodek Arena Complex in Polish city Katowice, Valve and ESL brought CS:GO to an arena setting — even if it was initially just a side event alongside StarCraft 2 and League of Legends. The story of Polish flag bearers Virtus.pro ploughing their way from the open qualifiers, all the way to that title, made it the place to be by the week’s end. Since then, multiple millions of viewers watching tournaments held in venues like the LANXESS Arena in Cologne, the Accor Arena in Paris, the Royal Arena in Copenhagen and the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic Park have become standard. But a key change in CS:GO’s history came from a rather unexpected place. The addition of in-game Sticker Capsules meant the start of Valve opening the money tap to participating organisations. A new revenue source for

Fnatic after winning the first CS:GO Major. Image credit: Fnatic via X

the game had arrived, further increasing the value of participation for teams and players. While the cut for organisations was unlikely to exceed five figures back then, nowadays it’s a key revenue source for teams that rakes in just shy of a million dollars for the average team per Major, with some teams managing to pull in multiple millions, The Esports Journal understands. CS:GO has not, of course, been without its controversies. You can’t wander the halls of esports business without being aware of the phrase ‘skin gambling’. It may not be the only game embroiled in illicit microtransaction usage, but with a rabid player base and an integrated realmoney item marketplace, it is CS:GO that became synonymous with it. The unregulated skin gambling market’s size in 2016 saw it valued roughly at $5 billion (~£4 billion), according to research from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming

and Narus Advisors. Due to that, and pressure from groups including the Washington State Gambling Commission, Valve made a sizable push to shut down a number of the sites that operated using their systems, which breached their terms. The controversial world of skin betting had its biggest day in the sun in 2015, when 16 players and community figures from North America and Europe picked up bans from Valve for match fixing. The scandals left a stain on the game, and had a long-term impact on North America Counter-Strike, particularly as a large portion of the top players of their time had been removed from competition. Despite pushbacks and some mitigative action throughout the following years, skin gambling is still present — and garnering more and more attention. A cruel twist of fate is that gambling and sports betting have been key pillars 7

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Image credit: Rikard Söderberg / DreamHack

in the growth of CS:GO. While the likes of Riot, Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard have to varying degrees restricted teams in their esports titles from taking such partnerships, Valve does not. Much like football clubs in England, sponsorship revenue from sportsbooks, often licensed in jurisdictions like Curacao and Malta, has been invaluable to the development of numerous esports organisations, and tournaments, in CS:GO. More broadly, the venerated FPS title has contributed much to the fabric of esports folklore. You can’t talk about CS:GO folklore without bringing up Sweden; Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP)’s stranglehold over the early years of the game, from attending the finals of the first five CS:GO Majors, the emotional footage of star player ‘GeT_RiGhT’ at Cologne 2014, and the 87-0 map winning streak at the start of the game, has made that team’s core members iconic to even the most cursory fan. 8

‘GeT_RiGhT’ at Cologne 2014. Image credit: Helena Kristiansson / ESL Gaming

Fnatic’s dominant eras and three Major wins, and the pure strength of professional player ‘olofmeister’ in the years following NiP’s decline, cemented Sweden’s outsized position at the top of the game. But its influence, eventually, faltered,

paving the way for a succession of other nations to forge dynasties — and carve out sizable market share as a result. First it fell to Brazil, with the Luminosity and SK Gaming rosters headed up by

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‘FalleN’ and ‘coldzera’ that won backto-back Majors at the start of the $1 million prize pool era ushered in by Valve in 2016. Then Denmark came calling… twice. Two strong Astralis cores, the latter of which won three Majors in a row, continued that domination across tournaments in 2018 and 2019. In that break, Gambit’s Kazakhstani core and the US’ Cloud9 claimed Major trophies, the latter of which prevailed over FaZe on a memorable January 2018 night in Boston (some say you can still hear US fans celebrating today). In more recent years, there’s been a move away from single-nationality lineups towards international rosters that combine the best talent from all over the world. While FaZe set the trend, from their initial Kinguin guise, many have followed. Team Vitality abandoned its traditionally French focus to enlist a European combination. G2 handed ‘NiKo’ the keys to build his dream roster of global players. Numerous players from Europe made the trip to the US to take up opportunities on American teams. Even Natus Vincere, the home of Ukrainian esports and king of Eastern Europe, has gone the way of an English speaking pan-European roster. Those teams and players have added to — and changed — the story of the esport. CS:GO tournaments see viewers tune in from across the globe, but outside of the leading English-language streams, the next two significant broadcasts are the Russian and Brazilian Portuguese languages, the former matching English for viewership numbers (almost certainly a significant reason for Cloud9’s shift to their current Russian team). Meanwhile, in Brazil, former CS 1.6 pro player and now chart-topping streamer ‘Gaules’ often acts as an official broadcaster or co-broadcaster for tournaments at various levels. It’s not uncommon for his streams to achieve more viewers than the main broadcast for the tier two and three tournaments he streams

An early Counter-Strike tournament in 2001. Image credit: Ricketyrocket via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

— a reflection of his popularity, but also of the changing makeup of CS:GO’s audience. Counter-Strike is able to offer a unique lens to the development, and growth, of esports over the past few decades that not many other titles can do. The rise and fall of teams and tournament organisers, the sheer increase in value of prize pools and player salaries. Those who’ve gone from hobbyist contributors to developing strong and stable careers at various levels of the industry. A lot of the big, third-party organisers we still see exist today — names like ESL, FACEIT, BLAST and PGL — can point to a significant part of their history, or even the reason they were founded, to the game series. You’d need to write a book to cover everything that the game has contributed to the industry, and even then I’d fear you’d still fall foul of a word count.

“Counter-Strike is able to offer a unique lens to the development, and growth, of esports over the past few decades that not many other titles can.” A fresh coat of paint, new gameplay mechanics, and promises of a wider, more open tournament ecosystem will usher in new gameplay, new opportunities and, potentially, new heights for one of esports’ foundational franchises. The king is dead, long live the king!

It has been a sad farewell now CS:GO no longer lets us boot up for a competitive match. 11 years of memories are locked. But coming now is its successor, the only game that could truly kill CS:GO: Counter-Strike 2. 9

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Sand Dragons How Pakistan became Tekken’s best-kept secret AUTHOR H.B. Duran  @thathbduran

ince the 1990s — long before the term ‘esports’ ever graced our vocabulary — the fighting game community has been the epicentre of thrilling rivalries and knock-down, drag-out battles. Anyone can button mash against their buddy, but if you are serious about competitive fighting games, you have to win the EVO championship if you want to be the best.

That’s just what players from the U.S., Japan, and South Korea have done. These countries dominated the Tekken scene (and arguably other esports, too) for decades, led most recently by Korean player Bae ‘Knee’ Jae-Mi, aka the “God of Tekken.” They had no idea that in far-off Pakistan, a community of Tekken players was about to show everyone the meaning of determination.

Image credit: Core-A Gaming via YouTube

A TEKKEN OASIS Lahore is the second-largest city in Pakistan, known for its thriving arts and culture. This film and music hub has even been called the Paris of the East for its support of creative industries. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, this oasis, fertile with ideas and the pursuit of greatness, is home to a group of fans who are obsessed with becoming the best at one thing — Tekken. Necessity is the mother of all invention, so what do you do when you can’t buy a gaming console and arcade cabinets aren’t shipped to your country? Pull up those bootstraps and improvise. Lahore is host to a number of small arcades filled to the brim with handmade cabinets made from monitors and consoles obtained from the grey market

or overseas. Most of them play Tekken. The worn fronts of these do-it-yourself arcade machines are a testament to how much they are loved by the community, honing their skills for hours using an honour system for payment. Back-up batteries keep the arcade alive and kicking during the region’s frequent and random blackouts. The blackouts are a result of load-shedding, an all-toofamiliar occurrence in Pakistan where power is cut by the grid to conserve electricity. Because there is no warning, players just have to wait it out until power returns. Simply put, it’s not easy being a gamer in Pakistan, especially if you have big ideas about competing abroad. The country’s passport is ranked fourth worst in the world, making it notoriously difficult for players to travel to competitions. While we take price comparison for granted, Pakistani gamers can pay upwards of $800 for a console alone, much less games and competition-ready fighting sticks. With travel limited and money scarce, many Tekken players quietly stuck to their arcades and became the best in the world without anyone knowing. THE PROPHECY The competitive Tekken scene got its first hint about Pakistan’s secret fighting community in the mid-2000s when ‘Asim’ Ali started dominating British players at Tekken 6. His incredible skills were (and

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still are) a testament to the dedication of Pakistan’s local competitive scene. British-born Pakistani Tekken competitor and commentator Hassan ‘Spag’ Farooq told The Esports Journal that Asim’s arrival was enlightening. “He taught us about the Pakistan scene after destroying us all,” Spag marvels, noting that Asim was #1 in his home country before moving to the UK. As competitive as Tekken is, the players always seem to give credit where it is due. “Awais Liaqat was, in fact, the first Pakistani to travel internationally in Tekken 6 for the World Cyber Games (WCG),” Spag adds. “He was number one in Pakistan with Asim. [If not for a misunderstanding about the rules that hampered Liaqat’s performance], perhaps Pakistan Tekken would have blown up a long time ago.” And blow up it would. Like a herald of the apocalypse, Asim foretold the coming of an even better player from his hometown who could beat everyone: Arslan Ash. Lahore native Arslan ‘Ash’ Siddique planned on becoming a doctor when he grew up, but it seems fate had other plans. His true passion for gaming was so innate that at four years old, he sleepwalked to a nearby gaming zone arcade. After making a name for himself as a teenager in the local scene, Ash continued his upward trajectory, winning the Pakistan Tekken 6 Grand Masters Championship (GCC) in 2010. Hand clawed above his Tekken fighting stick to avoid painful calluses, Ash plays with a unique style that reflects many years of practising on those worn, homemade arcade cabinets. This

style certainly caught the attention of observers, but it was his skills that changed everything. In 2019, despite visa issues, jet lag, and exhaustion, Ash became the champion of EVO Japan. He did it again in Las Vegas — a then-unheard-of double victory that dethroned Knee, the legendary “God of Tekken.” After several more years, championships, and ESPN’s “Esports Player of the Year,” Ash is still considered the best Tekken player in the world and the only four-time EVO Tekken champion.

2019 that I took notice of how talented Pakistan’s Tekken scene was, and from then, I’ve always meant to find a way to capitalise and help grow Pakistan’s tremendous esports talent. “I really want to help support and create an ecosystem for Pakistani players and athletes to thrive and grow whilst also connecting esports to a wider mainstream audience.” All evidence says Ash’s prodigy-level skills are not a fluke. Professional Tekken player Hafiz Adeel of Gamax Esports says that Pakistan is on the rise. “Where a few years ago, the world was unaware of our talent, now our players are dominating foreign gaming scenes by winning prestigious titles many times,” he commented.

Pictured: Arslan ‘Ash’ Siddique. Image credit: Red Bull

A NEW STANDARD Ash’s victories have inspired players the world over. Even Knee decided to visit Pakistan to train. But beyond accolades, Ash’s wins have had lasting impacts on the esports community he was born into. Danyal Chishty, the 23-year-old founder and CEO of Pakistani esports organisation Baaz, told The Esports Journal that gaming was anything but new to his heart — but it was Ash who gave him the push to form what has become the country’s leading source of local tournaments. “I’ve always been enamoured with gaming, and competitive gaming had been a hobby for me since high school, particularly around Smash/fighting games,” says Chishty. “However, it wasn’t until Arslan Ash’s win at EVO Japan in

Pakistani players may be travelling more these days, thanks to fundraisers, but Adeel tells us the local tournament scene is still what drives him. “When I used to play in the arcades, I saw great players there and always wanted to reach that level. To become the best player, my family and friends’ support always inspires me to achieve greater heights.” OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME “Pakistan is only going to be upwards from here since the country is full of young new prospects which other nations are lacking,” says Spag, acknowledging that the country has many challenges to address. The World Bank describes Pakistan’s economy as “under severe stress with low foreign reserves, a depreciating currency, and high inflation.” Struggling economies are not typically the first choice for outside business investment, restricting the Pakistani esports scene to grassroots fundraising, a

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stark contrast to the recent growth in neighbouring India. Pakistan is home to a few small organisations like Gamax Esports, BAAZ, and eSports Pakistan (ESPK). For what they lack in online freedom, players gain the same community engagement that sets Pakistan apart. Players must visit arcades and gaming centres to practise, including the popular Maniax Gaming Hub in Lahore. It is these local centres that organise the tournaments when they can. Unlike other countries, the lack of professional esports teams in Pakistan means no structured yearly tournament schedule in which to train. Once they are ready to compete abroad, fundraisers are necessary to cover travel expenses. Receiving donations from international fans is easier said than done, as well. Global payment providers like PayPal and Venmo do not offer services in the area. PLAYING TO STRENGTHS But all hope is not lost. Where brands dared not to tread, Ash has pointed a spotlight firmly on Pakistan. He is sponsored by Red Bull and represents Saudi Arabian esports team Twisted Minds, which is supported by the esports platform PLAYHERA and CountIt, a health food restaurant. Does this mean brands should pay more attention to Pakistani esports? Ash says “yes.” “I would say that Pakistan is one of the if not the strongest Tekken communities in the world,” the 4x EVO champ told The Esports Journal. “We have proved it multiple times. It’s not just me who has proved it, there are many people out there who are making a name for the country and for themselves. For brands, I think it’s a great opportunity for them to

Pictured: Arlan ‘Ash’ Siddique. Image credit: EVO / @SarahDope

get into the scene of Pakistan esports. It’s going to be huge in the future.” It won’t be easy, he admits, because of that inescapable visa problem. “The biggest hurdle is still the visa issue,” he says. “I think the only way this will get solved is with government involvement. Other players can travel with no problem, but we are struggling with visas because esports is not common in Pakistan. We need to have an ecosystem in Pakistan or a governmental body.” He’s not the only one who thinks so. In 2021, Pakistan’s former Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Hussain, announced a memorandum between the Pakistan Sports Board and the Pakistan Science Foundation that would categorise esports as a regular sport, giving it all the same benefits. Minister Hussain tweeted afterwards, “If you are interested in video games, get ready, and new opportunities are waiting for you.” Those opportunities have yet to be revealed, and requests made to the current Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Agha Hassan Baloch, were not answered by publishing time. Despite the long process of legitimising esports in his home country, Ash remains hopeful.

“There are brands in Pakistan who are interested in supporting the local talent. I think if more brands come and sponsor more players, it’s better,” he said. “ We should have a bigger tournament here, and it’s only possible if a big brand comes to Pakistan.” Some progress is being made. Last year, Dubai-based esports organisation Galaxy Racer announced the official launch of a new esports league in Pakistan, dubbing it the country’s “first-ever professional esports league.” Sponsorship is also making international travel possible. One GoFundMe campaign seeks just $1,000 to send Hafiz Tanveer, a young 19-yearold Tekken player, to the Philippines to compete in Rev Major 2023. According to the campaign organiser, Tanveer beat several Tekken pros, including the almighty Ash. Despite hardships — or perhaps thanks to them — Pakistani Tekken players continue to represent the country and disrupt the entire fighting scene. Atif ‘Atif Butt’ Ijaz just took home his second IESF World Esports Championship for Tekken 7. Out of 90 participating countries, Ijaz remained undefeated and took home $10,000 (~£8,000).

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Image credit: GIANTS Software

From Chess Boards to Farm Fields The rise of niche esports titles AUTHOR Ivan Simic  @Space_njoka

uickly, name three esports!

Chances are that you will mention CS:GO, Dota 2, League of Legends or VALORANT. I am willing to bet a reasonable sum of money that neither farming games, nor chess, crossed your mind. Well, welcome to the future, where we farm competitively, and race through Excel sheets for fun. An amusing and somehow unusual shift is happening in the esports space, with games like Farming Simulator, GeoGuessr, chess, even Microsoft Excel being taken

seriously as esports, complete with livestreams and prize pools. NEWCOMERS ENTER THE ARENA Chess, a game whose rules were first developed in the 15th century, is still immensely popular both in the real world and on virtual boards. Online platforms like Chess.com are spearheading the growth of digital chess, with thousands of matches facilitated by the platform each day. Chess grandmasters such as Hikaru Nakamura stream on Twitch regularly, and competitions in the game attract

thousands of viewers. The FIDE World Championship is regularly broadcast on the streaming platform, bridging the gap between real-world sport and the digital world. Chess.com’s online Pogchamps tournament saw more than 375,000 viewers at its peak. Some esports organisations have even signed chess players and streamers in recent years, and the game was also part of the Olympic Esports Series which took place in Singapore, the first major move towards esports for the International Olympic Committee.

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GeoGuessr, on the other hand, bridges the gap between virtual and physical in another way. The game places players in a random position in the world, and tasks them with finding out where that is. The closer the player guesses, the more points they accumulate. The game saw immense growth during the pandemic after going viral amongst content creators, which led to the creation of the GeoGuessr World Cup. Mikael Falgard, Co-founder and Head of the GeoGuessr World Cup, told The Esports Journal’s sister site Esports Insider in a July 2023 interview that the community has been creating thirdparty tournaments for years, and that a reasonable thing to do was to hold an official World Cup to gather all the fans and players in one place. GeoGuessr has more than 300,000 followers on Twitch. Farming Simulator, perhaps one of the least likely games to become an esports title, added a hay bale-stacking game mode initially to entertain visitors at agricultural trade shows. The mode proved to be so popular that it was included in the game and eventually led to the creation of the Farming Simulator League (FSL), a dedicated Farming Simulator esports league which sees both traditional esports organisations and agricultural brands (think tractor manufacturers and fertiliser

‘Image credit: Financial Modeling World Cup

distributors) field players to compete in farming tasks. The FSL is now in its fifth season — Season Four was won by engineering group Trelleborg — and has commercial sponsors ranging from agribusiness magazines and industry bodies to gaming endemics like Noblechairs and Nitrado. An office application that is the staple of corporate business, Microsoft Excel, is perhaps the most unlikely esports title of all, and surely one of the strangest. The competitiveness comes from ‘cases’ — situations and tasks that players need to solve by using Microsoft Excel. This can include sorting large amounts of data, figuring out the number of possible outcomes in a given scenario, tasks based on elections, random generations and similar. Excel competitions are now being streamed on ESPN, and the Microsoft Excel World Championship Finals will take place in Las Vegas later this year. BUT WHY? The rise of these games can be attributed to several main factors. With esports making its way into the mainstream, more players and viewers with eclectic tastes and interests are being drawn towards competing. This also means that wider age groups are also interested in esports, with

older audiences having little trouble understanding something like chess, in contrast to the byzantine mechanics of League of Legends. There is also the fact that these niche esports games generally have more laid back player bases and their communities might not be quite as competitive as the tier one games, in general. The fact that you do not need to be a stereotypical ‘gamer’ to compete in Excel or GeoGuessr broadens the appeal — and the fact you don’t need decades of playtime for a shot at winning likely helps, too. Many fans of these niche games may not be fans of other esports games, or even games in general. Farming Simulator developer GIANTS Software told Gamesindustry.biz in 2016 that many of its players don’t play other games, despite its large and varied playerbase. 10 years ago, a Farming Simulator

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employee told Polygon that a large number of Farming Simulator players are real-life farmers. Add to this that the likes of GeoGuessr, Excel and chess require almost no investment besides a computer with a web browser, and you are opening a whole new area of competitors that can participate. Streamers and content creators experimenting with niche titles on broadcast has played a large role in helping to grow the popularity of these niche esports titles. Dedicated gamespecific streamers and popular variety streamers alike bring attention to the games, presenting them to an audience of more traditional gamers. REIMAGINING THE DEFINITION OF ESPORTS Esports is typically viewed in mainstream conceptions as professional players competing in large arenas that attract huge crowds of gamers. Even though Farming Simulator or GeoGuessr fans might not be seen as ‘real gamers’, the games attract sponsors and partners

nonetheless, as well as attention from content creators and streamers. This is especially apparent in Farming Simulator. The game’s esports league is partnered with agricultural brands that can’t usually market their products toward gamers, making the league a great place to advertise to the above mentioned audience. Giving players the ability to actually drive farm equipment they might use in real life is an overlooked and interesting form of marketing. POTENTIAL CHALLENGES Games like GeoGuessr and Farming Simulator, even chess, challenge conventional notions of what defines an esport. Some might argue that Microsoft Excel is not a ‘real’ esport. Yet the very metrics that make CS:GO a ‘real’ esport — teams, talent, leagues, viewers, sponsors, skill-based digitally enabled tournaments — are shared by all of the games and software mentioned above. On the other hand, you can argue that these games are just a part of a fleeting trend and will not last as long as some of the industry heavyweights. But the

years they have been operating shows otherwise. Even if we do not see any more GeoGuessr World Cups in the future, another strange game will likely take its place. What’s interesting is that the organisers of these types of tournaments and leagues are not really bothered by definitions. The Farming Simulator League aims to be a family-friendly esport that does not take itself too seriously, and such is the case with Excel as well. Chess.com seems to refrain from explicitly calling its tournaments esports, perhaps because the battle is more effort than it’s worth. Regardless, for many behind this new wave of niche esports titles, they simply create content and tournaments for games and applications they enjoy. CONCLUSIONS Just a few short years ago, no one really thought a game called Rocket League would become one of the most popular esports titles in the world. A game about cars bumping giant footballs into oversized goals has since proven the critics wrong, and is making waves as an industry success story. Rocket League has been a major hit with carmakers, audiences, esports organisations and the players themselves. There is no reason why some of the more niche games can not attract large audiences, or continue servicing stable, niche communities, and those seeking to avoid the oversaturation of ‘real’ esports.

Image credit: GIANTS Software

In the end, esports is open to anyone, regardless of age or interest. If you like chess, go for it. If you enjoy farming competitively, we’ve got a game for you. And if you find joy in making sense of immense amounts of complex data, a task that is a real job in many corporations, well, you do you. Just sit back, enjoy and don’t take yourself too seriously. After all, it’s just a game.

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The Evolution of Skin Wagering From betting exchanges to predatory casinos AUTHOR Ollie Ring  @olliering

“Introducing the Arms Deal Update, which lets you experience all the illicit thrills of black market weapons trafficking without any of the hanging around in darkened warehouses getting knifed to death.” - The Arms Deal Update, August 14th, 2013. n the wake of the ten-year anniversary of the blog announcing the first CS:GO skins, here’s hoping the irony of Valve’s bizarre wording is not lost on anyone. It’s safe to say the community has been treated to far more than just one kind of black market weapons trafficking.

The first in-game item case, the creatively named ‘CS:GO Weapon Case’, contained nine skins, each comparatively modest in design compared to the 17 now found in each current-era crate. The blog post encouraged users to head to the marketplace to sell or trade their items with other players. The bright, garish designs were rarer and, as such, through the basic laws of supply and demand, more expensive on the Steam Marketplace. When a skin is bought or sold on the Steam market, it’s using the Steam wallet. Although

the balance can be topped up using traditional fiat currency, there’s no way to withdraw funds. The Valve market API, however, allowed quick integrations and, as such, thirdparty marketplaces emerged, offering real money for users’ skins, with a percentage of the value taken as a fee. As marketplaces emerged, however, so too did betting sites. THE RISE OF THE SKIN BETTING EXCHANGE The most popular early gambling sites were intrinsically linked to the esports

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scene. Through integrating the Steam API, sites such as CS:GO Lounge and Dota 2 Lounge allowed users to deposit their skins — in-game cosmetic items — and wager them on esports fixtures.

in-game or sold for real money on third party sites. The ability to sell coins on an online market fell under the UKGC’s definition of consideration, and thus under the UK Gambling Act.

There was no depth of market, users simply bet on match outcomes and the house did no pricing. The wagering format saw the house take no risk, but instead take a rake of 10% of all winning skins (by Steam market value).

Counter-Strike and Dota 2 skins being wagered, following the same rules, would very much constitute consideration. The absence of any semblance of regulation, know-your-customer (KYC) and consumer safeguarding all posed significant problems. Users, many underage, could (and can) simply sign-up and start gambling by clicking ‘Sign-in through Steam’.

THE DEFINITION OF GAMBLING Gambling requires three elements to be present: 1. Consideration (an amount wagered) 2. Risk (chance) 3. Prize. UK precedent has been set with the case of Craig Douglas and Dylan Rigby who were fined £91,000 and £164,000 respectively in 2017 after pleading guilty to offences under the UK’s Gambling Act. This is the only historical case where the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has prosecuted people for running an unlicensed gambling site related to a video game. Douglas and Rigby’s site, FUT Galaxy, allowed users to use FIFA 17 in-game coins to bet on real-life football games, which could then be transferred back

HISTORIC MARKET STATS By 2016, the skin gambling market was undoubtedly significant in size. Key data insights from Narus Advisors’ report on skin gambling in 2016 include the following numbers, which were revised downwards after Valve issued a wave of cease and desist orders that year. •

Projected $7.4 billion in turnover (value wagered) • $3.3 billion in sports betting handle. • $1.9 billion in jackpot wagers (lottery-type games).

• $1.0 billion in roulette wagers. • $414 million in coinflip wagers. • $733 million on other casinostyle games. Sportsbook-style wagering was the projected largest component, with 44.79% of total skin wagering. CS:GO Lounge, the largest skin betting site, saw the following: • 103 million skins wagered. • 2,800 matches wagered on. • Over $1 billion in handle value. • $9.75 average real world value per item. • 321,155 skins wagered on a single match (SK Gaming vs Team Liquid, ESL One New York 2017). • 18.3 million skins wagered across just four tournaments. SLOT-LIKE MECHANISMS AND GAMES OF CHANCE Historically there have been two types of casino-style gambling promoted by influencers on their livestreams: Casino and slots gameplay on unregulated, or loosely-regulated sites (typically through crypto or skins), and unboxing and unpacking loot boxes (virtual items in video games that players open to obtain random rewards of varying value, with players usually able to purchase them with in-game currency or real life money). The recent proliferation of Twitch slots streams on crypto-based casinos caused eventual community uproar, which forced the Amazonowned broadcast platform to play quasi-regulator and ban the streaming of such sites. For the purpose of this piece, the focus will be on casino gameplay through the use of skins.

Image credit: Valve

THE CURIOUS CASE OF TMARTN AND PROSYNDICATE The highest profile case was that of popular YouTubers Tom ‘Syndicate’ Cassell

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sales on the Steam marketplace. While Valve has made several small attempts to limit skin gambling, these have largely been sporadic efforts, usually in response to community criticism or legal challenges. Valve has had legal action taken against it several times, but has yet to lose a case.

Image credit: CSGORoll

and Trevor ‘TmarTn’ Martin, who failed to disclose that they owned CSGO Lotto — despite posting videos gambling on the site to over 10 million subscribers on YouTube.

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The pair posted videos of themselves winning big on their own site. They avoided any severe punishment but were subject to the US Federal Trade Commission’s first ever settlement against social media influencers.

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VALVE’S LEGAL BATTLES Several lawsuits and regulatory warnings specifically relating to skin betting have been brought against Valve. The two most notable were in 2016 by the Washington State Gambling Commission and, secondly, the Quinault Nation Native American nation. Valve said during the former: “As we have explained on multiple occasions, Valve is not engaged in gambling or the promotion of gambling and we do not ‘facilitate gambling’.” Despite the developer denying the above allegations, it has made a number of changes over the years which have impacted skin betting and trading. Here’s a brief timeline: • February 2016: The Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC) first contacts Valve to ‘find out more about the issue of skin gambling’.

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June 2016: The Seattle-based developer receives a lawsuit from CS:GO player Michael McLeod, alleging Valve knowingly supported illegal gambling. July 2016: Valve issues cease and desist orders to 23 CS:GO skin betting sites following community pressure. September 2016: The WSGC tell Valve to “immediately stop allowing the transfer of CS:GO virtual weapons for gambling activities” October 2016: Valve issues aforementioned rebuttal. April 2018: Valve changes trading rules to introduce a seven-day cooldown before an item can be traded again. June 2018: Popular skin gambling site OPSkins is ordered to cease and desist. May 2023: Valve updates Steam Online Conduct rules to include use of Steam for gambling as prohibited under the ‘Engage in commercial activity heading’. June 2023: Valve issues ban wave on CSGO Roll and CSGO Empire bots, causing over $2 million of skins to vanish into the ether overnight.

Valve indirectly benefits from skin gambling via the uplift in skin sales and value, as well as the cut it takes of skin

FROM SKIN BETTING TO SKIN GAMBLING Despite crackdown attempts, the illicit use of skins is far from over. The commonly used workaround now is that skins are converted into a site’s own virtual currency upon deposit, alongside other ways of depositing. The emergence of cryptocurrency has further muddied the skin gambling water. Whereas prior exchange-type (player versus player) sports betting products were the most prolific and numerous, the landscape has since changed. Analysis conducted for this article found 21 websites offering skin gambling and the following results: • 18 of 21 sites (85.7%) offer fiat currency deposits. • 19 of 21 sites (90.5%) offer cryptocurrency deposits. • 2 of 21 sites (9.5%) offer a purely peer-to-peer skin betting exchange product (the relaunched CS:GO Lounge and Dota 2 Lounge). • 2 of 21 sites (9.5%) offer a traditional sportsbook product. • 3 of 21 sites (14.3%) offer an esports sportsbook. • 19 of 21 sites (90.5%) offer a casinotype product. It’s worth noting that often, withdrawals are only permitted in skins. The most common type of game offered is a case battle, which these sites claim does not constitute a gambling product. However, the game involves consumers purchasing the same loot box as other players using the acquired virtual coin

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(which may constitute consideration) before opening the crate and receiving items determined by ‘provably fair’ randomised mechanics (chance) with the person who unboxes the highest value items taking all (prize). • • • • • •

16 of 21 operate a ‘case’ product (as described above). 8 of 21 operate a ‘jackpot’ (lottery) product. 11 of 21 operate a roulette or wheelspin product. 8 of 21 operate a ‘crash’ product. 8 of 21 operate a coinflip or similar product. 2 of 21 (9.5%) operate traditional online slots, table games and live dealer products.

ONE STEP FORWARD, EIGHT STEPS BACK The Counter-Strike scene has far from covered itself in glory in recent months as skin gambling has once again been a hot topic of conversation. There’s been an ongoing battle between popular sites CSGO Empire and CSGO Roll, with the two companies having a very public verbal spat over X (Twitter). Curacao-licensed CSGO Empire positions itself as the moral arbiter of skin gambling roulette, as it uses geo-blockers to ‘prevent’ users in prohibited countries from accessing the site. However, a VPN to Poland and a UK-registered Steam account was able to circumvent this, The Esports Journal found. Of the sites analysed, seven are based in Curacao, five in Cyprus; three in the UK; two in the US; and one in Belize, Estonia and Singapore apiece with a final one unknown. Some sites have accused others of all manner of unscrupulous behaviour, such as money laundering and predatory practices. CSGO Roll has also been subject to a diss-track from a CSGO Empire loyalist, in another move

that’s sure to encourage tier one legal operators to build a proper product. Meanwhile, European esports organisation G2 Esports waded into skin gambling in May in what turned out to be a misjudgement of community sentiment. G2 has an illustrious list of partners such as Ralph Lauren, Mastercard, Pringles, Red bull, Jagermeister, Logitech, Lenovo, and Spotify to name a few. But the storied esports organisation announced in May a partnership with CSGO Roll, which saw the skin trading and betting site receive brand placement for the Major, and an on-site activation where fans could win prizes through a “CSGO Roll-inspired slot machine.” The deal was announced with a video of star player Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov sauntering through a casino before playing Craps at a table. The video was released the day after Ilya’s 18th birthday. A protestor at the Major was recorded glueing his hand to the slot machine, shouting that he ‘lost his house’ to the company. Three months later, G2 quietly removed all social media posts relating to the partnership, including video content and the logo from its site.

THE ONGOING BATTLE FOR LEGITIMISATION Ten years on from the introduction of skins, and seven years after the first batch of cease and desist orders, the industry is still talking about esports betting legalisation. Regulators around the world are struggling to bring analogue regulation into the digital age, seemingly now only just grasping that rules surrounding the internet need to differ from those adhered to in landbased locations. Lessons can be learned from skin betting and gambling products for legitimate operators, but must be harnessed in the right way and used as part of an ongoing strategy to appeal to esports fans and those of younger ages — though that’s a whole different discussion. Ultimately, the one entity with the unilateral power to stop all of this is the game’s developer, Valve. Will Valve use the recent launch of Counter-Strike 2 to do so? We’re not sure we’d bet our Counter-Strike skins on ‘yes’.

Image credit: Valve

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Fighting Back Why the Fighting Game Community is poised to enter a new golden era AUTHOR Ben ‘FishStix’ Goldhaber  @FishStix

y background in competitive gaming is not in fighting games.

Actually, it was just about the opposite: I cut my teeth competing in first person shooters like TRIBES, and discovered my love of esports following Quake Live and attending my first QuakeCon in 2009. But for some reason fighting games, and the fighting game community (FGC) in general, have always been among my

Image credit: Vexanie / EVO

very favourite esports events to watch and attend.

golden era for the FGC (and esports in general).

I first started following the FGC seriously with the launch of Street Fighter 4 in 2008, widely considered the ushering in of a golden era for the community. Not only was SF4 selling like hot cakes, it also coincided with live streaming platforms like Ustream and Justin. tv gaining popularity, making esports broadcasts accessible to the masses for the first time. It was the beginning of a

Around this time I had become completely obsessed with watching every esports stream I could find, whether it be Quake, Heroes of Newerth, CS 1.6, or Street Fighter. One weekend, I stumbled across the Evo 2009 broadcast, which had peaked at a massive viewership number of… 20,000 concurrent viewers. This was the highest peak viewership I had seen at

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the time. The matches were incredible (still one of the greatest Evo finals in my opinion), and the hype was palpable. And oh man, that viewership blew my mind. My interest was piqued. Despite never playing a fighting game seriously, I decided to grab my laptop and head to my first FGC major the next year — NorCal Regionals 2010. I volunteered to help the iplaywinner team with Ustream chat moderation and stream promotion and despite some very real ‘FGC vs. Esports’, erm, friction shall we say (there was a lot of friendly and not so friendly banter, but I digress), I was welcomed into the scene. More importantly, the energy in that room when FChamp, a NorCal native, took out Daigo was unlike anything I had experienced before. It was an incredible experience. I was hooked.

Image credit: Vexanie / EVO

More importantly, the energy in that room when FChamp, a NorCal native, took out Daigo was unlike anything I had experienced before. It was an incredible experience. I was hooked. Upcoming fighting game Project L. Image credit: Riot Games

Over the course of the next decade I had the opportunity to play a small role helping the FGC via my various positions at Twitch in ways I never imagined possible, attending a dozen FGC majors and 10 Evos, loving each more than the last. This is why I could not be more excited to see the FGC poised to enter a new golden era with potential to soar to new heights. A NEW GOLDEN ERA FOR THE FGC If you know me, you know that I’m pretty much the biggest cheerleader in esports. Much of that cheerleading

has been justified, but some missed the mark: I was the guy who was bullish on the Overwatch League and told everyone BRINK was the next big shooter after all. But I have every reason to be optimistic that the best time to be a fighting game fan could be right now. 1.

Street Fighter 6’s launch has been excellent If the last golden era for the FGC was kicked off by the launch of Street Fighter 4, its slump may have been because of Street Fighter 5. It was not

a good game at launch. It sucked the air out of the room. By contrast, SF6 has been amazing from the get-go. The graphics, the new mechanics, the marketing, the sales figures, the hype have all been there. This is exemplified in no better way than SF6’s Evo presence. 7,061 players signed up to play in the tournament. It is impossible to overemphasise just how incredible that number is. Not only was it the biggest 23

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esports tournament ever by entrants, it isn’t even close. This beat out the previous record of 5,107 competitors from Evo 2016 by a huge margin. Viewership for Evo 2023 was also record-breaking per Esports Charts data, with over 440,000 viewers watching simultaneously on Twitch and YouTube. Which leads me to my next point… 2. Evo is thriving In 2021 it was announced that Evo had been acquired in a joint venture by Sony and RTS. This came out of left field; after all, Evo was a community event through and through all these years. Many were

concerned that Evo might become more corporate and lose its feel.

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Two years in, that fear has mostly been put to bed. Evo under Sony and RTS’s management hasn’t lost an iota of its charm. It has, however, improved in several notable ways: • Improved production value all around • New high watermark for viewership and attendance • Larger show floor size with more vendors • More endemic and non-endemic corporate sponsors (shoutout to Chipotle)

Arguably most importantly, it has a new front man at its helm, one of the most respected and renowned tournament organisers in the FGC: Rick ‘TheHadou’ Thiher.

Adding a 3rd Evo annually in a yetto-be-announced location

Rollback netcode makes online FGC viable The FGC has always been about meeting up — in person, at your local, at the arcade, and at majors. But that doesn’t mean that online play can’t work for fighting games; it just hasn’t worked in the past. Substantial lag in fighting games or Smash essentially kill the fun and competitive integrity. This is of course also true in any online game, but to a much higher degree in fighting games, which heavily rely on splitsecond reactions. Enter: rollback netcode. I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty, but essentially rollback is a software solution that makes playing West Coast to East Coast viable… or even cross-continent.

Image credit: Vexanie / EVO

Owing to their reliance on LAN events, the FGC and Smash communities were hurt more by the COVID-19 pandemic than any other gaming community. It was a dark period. But with rollback, FGC tournaments can happen online legitimately today in essentially all modern games. This widens the pool of potential competitors by a mile. Online play has been a staple of esports for decades, and now is finally viable in the FGC too. 4.

Image credit: Screenshot via @ShaolinSoccerV2 on YouTube

More big game releases are on the horizon — including Project L Street Fighter 6 is still hot off the shelves, and will surely be around for years to come with updates, new characters, and new abilities coming soon. Guilty Gear Strive also has plenty of content releasing regularly. The next

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Image credit: Leonel Calara via Shutterstock

two most historically important fighting game franchises, Tekken and Mortal Kombat, also have mainline series launches in 2023 and early 2024. That may all still pale in comparison to Riot Games’ new fight game in the works, Project L. I shouldn’t have to expound on just how influential Riot’s free to play model has been to the esports space. The free to play business model means everyone and their mothers can and will play your game. League of Legends is still the #1 esports in the world, and Riot has now done what it did to MOBAs to tactical shooters (VALORANT) and auto chess (TFT). I’m betting they’re going to do it again with fighting games. There has never been a truly great F2P fighting game, but that’s likely to change. Project L looks beautiful and is building off the amazing LoL IP. Project L’s dev team is full of game designers pulled directly out of the FGC, including of course Tom and Tony Cannon (Evo’s original founders, and the creators

of rollback netcode), MvC2 legend Clockw0rk, and many others. Riot also invests in esports like no other developer. It’s not hard to imagine that there will be more prize money, more tournaments, more sponsors, more competitors, and more interest in Project L than potentially any fighting game before it. IN CONCLUSION It breaks my heart to see the esports industry hit so hard by the economic downturn. The current global financial situation is impacting just about every industry, but arguably esports is being hit the hardest. The sponsors, developers, sports billionaires, and venture capitalists that propped up esports’ exponential growth over the past decade are beginning to pull back, causing major teams to shutter and even franchised leagues to be in serious jeopardy. While esports may have become inflated from (and addicted to) a never-ending supply of VC and publisher money, the FGC, for the most part, has grown more

slowly, but organically. The FGC, built upon a strong grassroots foundation and saddled with several strong tailwinds, is primed to take off. That’s why I believe that the FGC is in as good a position as it has ever been. Of course, only time will tell if the upcoming slate of new games will live up to our lofty expectations and if the trends we saw at Evo 2023 will continue. But I’ve never been more optimistic on the future of fighting games, as a community and as esports. Let’s get hype for a new golden era for the FGC.

About the author: Ben Goldhaber is an esports veteran with 15 years of industry experience. A founding member of Twitch, Goldhaber has extensive entrepreneurial, marketing and partnerships experience, which he used to found esports social media app Juked in 2019. He now works as an advisor for several gaming and esports firms, and is the Senior Director of Marketing at Forge. 25

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From our advertiser, Bayes Esports

Inside the Data Pipeline Unlocking stats and secrets through data AUTHOR Ben Steenhuisen  @Noxvillee

f you have been around the topic of esports data, you may have heard us at Bayes Esports talk about the differences between the two types of data in esports: Official Live Data and Unofficial Data.

We want to take this opportunity now to talk a bit differently about data for once. What is it actually like working with official live data in esports? Let us take you behind the scenes of an official live esports data and service provider.

We’ve talked about the dangers of unofficial data and how official live data can elevate an esports product to the next level.

DATA SCRAPING VS OFFICIAL DATA COLLECTION First, let’s talk about the way official live data can be received. Generally

speaking, there are two different ways that official live data can be collected. In the cases where a direct partnership with a game developer exists, an API access to the game servers can be given, thus granting immediate access to the live game data. So far, so easy. However, in those cases where the game developers themselves are not

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directly involved in the organisation of all the esports tournaments (and thus no direct access is available), partnerships have to be developed between independent tournament organisers and data providers. Data providers then have to develop their own tools and techniques to extract that live data. This does also have a side effect in that there is more flexibility in how the data is collected and which data points are available. Whether through an API or specialised tools, official live match data is guaranteed to come from the game server the match is played on. The advantage of these two approaches is that every single action of every player is detailed instantly in the stream of data collected — and guaranteed to be accurate. Unofficial data providers, on the other hand, mostly use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to scrape data from the official broadcast. Collecting data this way is entirely dependent on the broadcast itself. Not only are those typically delayed by an average of 40 to 60 seconds - or even up to a few minutes for matches played online - but every time the broadcast changes to show, for example, a replay, the data stream stops and crucial events can be missed. Thus, data consumers that rely on a complete and undelayed data stream, such as the esports betting industry in particular, cannot rely on data that is collected through OCR. Through official live data, data customers can instead be enabled to offer more engaging esports products that are more comprehensive and updated live.

revenue generated through official live data feeds back directly into the esports ecosystem by enabling rights holders, media partners, and sportsbooks to offer more engaging esports products. From detailed statistics during broadcasts to flexible and fast-paced betting solutions, official live data is the key to unlocking the potential of esports. To get to that point, the official live data received needs to be transformed into a new format that is easier to work with. MAKING DATA USEFUL Think of raw data as constantly updated and unintelligible. That stream is unwieldy to work with and largely unusable by itself. How unintelligible it is and how much work is needed to transform it depends on the source. The raw incoming official data stream can vary wildly: from being very well structured and clearly intended for further usage, to being overly verbose, or raw streams which need more processing work to be done. Either way, in this processing step, also called data parsing, the raw data that is received is transformed into a structurally consistent data format. There are various steps taken in that process: • Translating the data. • Synthesising events/data. • Limiting certain event frequency. • Exporting data in a consistent format.

Every raw official data stream received from a different source, say every game developer and tournament organiser, comes in a different, complicated, and unique data format. For that data to be used for further use cases, it first needs to be translated into an intermediate data format. During the translation, some data is intentionally ignored or filtered out, as not all data is relevant for further usage. This process involves using software to filter through and structure the data in a neat and orderly fashion. From there, individual data parts can be picked out to create a data message, which is, in essence, a customisable data stream that is then further distributed. FIRST BLOODS AND KILLING SPREES In some situations, new events or data points based on the underlying data need to be created. These new events are easier for the data customer to use. For example there could be a special event if a player has secured First Blood, or is on a Killing Spree. Sportsbooks that are offering markets on events like this benefit from receiving such data as a new event, rather than

Ben Steenhuisen Senior Software Architect Bayes Esports

Conversely, official data can help the data customers give back to the esports community by providing value to the rights holders and their community. The

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having to put the individual data pieces together themselves.

interpreting data streams and changes to their code to be needed.

AVOIDING DATA NIGHTMARES Integrating data from different game titles or tournaments would become a nightmare for data customers if they were all distributed in different formats. It would require the customer to maintain vastly different integration tools for every different title or tournament they would want to cover, resulting in high overhead costs.

1,000 DATA MESSAGES PER SECOND Once the data is finished in the live data processing pipeline, it needs to be distributed to customers. To enable a smooth transition, they are given a staging and production environment so they can test out their own tech changes before it impacts their production environment.

Instead, a data provider has to transform the various formats into their own generically formatted one that is structurally consistent across all game titles and sources. Such a more generic format is easier for data consumers to handle, as any semantic and syntactic differences between data from different sources (i.e. data from different CS:GO tournament organisers) are eliminated. Furthermore, it helps protect the data customer from changes made to the data format, for example by patches. As a result, data consumers can easily expand their coverage into new titles due to the similarity in data stream formats. Having a stable data format is very helpful, but having one with relatively few breaking changes is crucial as they prevent customers from

At Bayes Esports, we use our BEDEX platform for distribution. It allows customers to get the specific data streams they are interested in in a low-latency and reliable manner. While the technical details of it are beyond the scope of this article, let us share some key stats with you to put into perspective how much data is distributed via BEDEX.

We deliver close to 1,000 data messages per second at an average latency of 6 milliseconds.

We deliver close to 1,000 data messages per second at an average latency of 6 milliseconds. With games having potentially thousands of unique data points, you can get a scope just how much data is generated and distributed in esports. Ultimately, however, what matters most is fitting the distribution to the actual needs of the customer. REAL LIFE EXAMPLES OF DATA BENEFITS As a final note, let us break down three of the most common examples of use cases for data to exemplify how data is distributed. 1. Media Media platforms can use esports data to inform their users about recent or current events in esports. The amount of data that is distributed to media partners is dependent on how detailed they need their coverage of the event to be.

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If you, for example, looked for the results of a recently concluded esports event on the internet, you may find a scoreboard that details who played against whom and how these matchups ended up playing out. To be able to provide such a scoreboard, accurate post-match data is needed. While theoretically possible, there is no need to send these partners a detailed playby-play breakdown of everything that happened during the game itself. In this case, what matters are only a select few data points, such as the participating teams, the end results and perhaps individual player performances. The data that is distributed needs to be cut down to that end. Furthermore, the speed at which the data is delivered becomes less crucial, making slower volume data messages more viable. However, for media partners that are considering a live ticker, live data from the matches becomes more of a commodity again. Detailing which player scored a kill at which point in the match - and being able to deliver live updates - is essential for a good live coverage. In either case, the data that is distributed to partners for fans to consume needs to be artificially delayed. Since the broadcasts of esports events are delayed by 40 seconds on average, the data feed given out to the public needs to be delayed by the same amount, in order to avoid spoiling the outcome of matches while they are still broadcasted. 2. Betting This is not the same for use cases in esports betting. As a matter of fact, the inverse is true: Sportsbooks need to know what is happening in a game before the public does. This allows them to adjust their betting offering and betting odds before insiders or live spectators at the venue can take advantage of slow moving betting markets.

Furthermore, regarding the data feed sportsbooks need, these have to be a lot more comprehensive, as a variety of factors can influence the outcome of a betting market. Suddenly, the direction a player is heading towards and their distance to other teammates can become crucially important. Probability models that try to predict the outcome of a betting market, such as which team will take down the next dragon or win the round, need accurate and granular live data in order to be as accurate as possible. Data points that previously might have seemed irrelevant to a human eye can become the difference maker to a model that has analysed millions of data points from thousands of matches. The more data it can be fed with, the better the results at the end. 3. Teams and players For professional teams and players, the amount of data they are given access to once again becomes incredibly important. Teams can play hundreds of training matches against each other. For them to be able to improve their level of play and learn, they need the data from these matches. Crucially, however, they and only they need to be able to access it.

Making this information usable - and then creating the correct data set that satisfies the needs of whoever needs to use it - is the key part of our work at Bayes Esports as an official live data and service provider. Not everything is relevant to everyone, and what is relevant is different from use case to use case. With official live data, however, we can identify and fit what we provide to others to their specific needs. More importantly, official live data enables us to protect the integrity of the esports industry by partnering with the rights holders. We can monitor who gains access to what kind of data and ensure that no unfair competitive advantages can be gained. If you want to find out more about the benefits of official live data, scan the QR code below. About the author: Ben Steenhuisen is a Senior Software Architect at Bayes Esports, with 11 years of professional software development experience. He has a long history working with esports statistics, primarily in Dota 2, where he worked alongside high-profile broadcasters such as ESL, DreamHack, and PGL, as well as Valve.

Teams should not have the ability to gain access to the private training data of other teams, yet all of them should have access to their own. In this case, a data platform is needed that differentiates the data distributed depending on the user that is inquiring. Upholding the integrity of the competitions and ensuring no team can get a competitive advantage (by accessing data they should not have been privy to) becomes the most important factor. THE POWER OF OFFICIAL LIVE DATA In essence, working with official data means working at a well of information.

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Blue Moon Rising How Man City is tackling esports AUTHOR Tom Daniels  @TheTomDaniels

ver the years esports has transcended from a competitive venture into an exciting avenue for brands to tap into a digitally savvy, loyal and young demographic. Esports has crossed over into a variety of different industries, whether that’s music, media, television or fashion.

However, perhaps the most obvious relationship is that of esports and sports. Given that both share a sense of competitiveness, are symbolic of a wide variety of disciplines, and have teams and fandoms built around the industries, it’s been no surprise to see these two

Image credit: ‘City Football Group’

sectors increasingly come together hand in hand over the past decade. Whilst there is certainly a growing esports presence in sports such as basketball and ice hockey — largely due to the creation of the franchised NBA 2K League and EA SPORTS NHL esports events — football clubs have been the most proactive, especially when it comes to seeing the potential of esports divisions. Wolves Esports is a dominant force in the Chinese mobile esports ecosystem, PSG has secured naming rights deals with a variety of tier-one

esports organisations and Schalke 04 previously owned a League of Legends franchise, which it later went on to sell for €26.5m (~£22.8m). Manchester City has spent the last decade developing itself into one of, if not, the world’s best football team. However, in recent years the club has also embarked on a range of esports initiatives and collaborations with tierone organisations, whilst also running its own dedicated esports division within FIFA and Fortnite. So why exactly is Man City embracing and opening its arms to the esports sector?

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“We want to be culturally relevant, where primarily younger fans are showing up,” answered Gavin Johnson, the Media Director at Man City’s parent company City Football Group. “We try to show up where fans are or potential fans are. That’s my broader job, to appeal to fans of our clubs with the content we create. But it’s also my role to help drive fan growth through present content or different experiences. Esports and gaming is a really, really important vertical for us in terms of that.” Every football club will have different goals and ambitions within the esports scene. Still, creating and cultivating strong fandoms will always be a major factor for any football club. With the world now more digitally connected than ever before, it opens up opportunities for once-location-locked clubs to reach a more global audience, through avenues such as esports and gaming. “We can only get 55,000 people into the Etihad every other week,” said Johnson, when asked about esports being used as a vertical to reach out to fans. “Gaming and esports, it’s a great mechanism to do it because we’re not just reliant on the availability of Erling Haaland or Kevin De Bruyne, we can use the fame of the club to reach new fans and have new experiences.” Meanwhile, Kris Lewis, Senior Esports and Gaming Manager at City Football Group, highlighted that “esports and gaming provides football clubs with an opportunity to engage with young fans in a meaningful, relevant way outside of football itself.” ESPORTS GOALS Amidst the harsh esports winter, a term coined to describe the current financial struggles that have spread across the ecosystem, most endemic organisations

Image credit: ‘City Football Group’

in the scene rely on competitions, sponsorships and other related ventures in order to keep operations afloat. However, for sports clubs, esports isn’t their main revenue source. This allows them to invest readily in esports. Whilst the esports divisions of these clubs would obviously want to be profitable, the benefits of their esports endeavours are far more intangible. Esports strategies can also differ from club to club, sliding on a scale ranging from community to competitive. Compared to some other football clubs in the esports scene, Man City has remained rather pragmatic on the competitive landscape, having largely focused on the FIFA scene, before branching into Fortnite in late 2021. With game publisher EA breaking away from FIFA to release their own EA SPORTS FC games, it’s likely many FIFA esports players and organisations will transition to EA’s new titles. When speaking to Johnson, the club’s involvement with FIFA and Fortnite has largely been by design. “We won’t go into something unless we can really put our shoulder to the wheel

and make it happen,” he explained. “So, we don’t go into something for three months then dip back out again, because we get cold feet.” According to Johnson, the club’s endeavours into the Fortnite scene took “about six to eight months” before Man City dove into the scene. This slow and sensible approach has seemingly paid off with the football club embracing the Battle Royale game with open arms. Lewis added: “The club has seen great success with Fortnite as a title, being the first football club to acquire a professional Fortnite player roster, which includes the likes of ‘Threats’ who recently won DreamHack San Diego with the club.” With regards to what’s next for the football club when it comes to the competitive esports scene, Lewis mentioned that the club is open to “strategically exploring new opportunities.” In particular, Lewis emphasised the club’s recent endeavours in Rocket League: “One such example is Rocket League, where we are operating fan tournaments on our Man City Esports Challengermode gaming space and

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engagement opportunities across both countries. “We carefully pick who we partner with, and the way we enter into those partnerships is that we bring something to the table and they bring something to the table,” said Johnson. One such activation that Man City did while in Korea was showcasing its recently won trio of trophies (Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup) with Gen.G’s esports players, who can also call themselves champions after winning League of Legends’ LCK 2023 Summer and Spring splits.

Image credit: ‘City Football Group’

where, in collaboration with PUMA, we are making available custom Man City decals to celebrate the new 2023/24 away kit.” Significant changes are occurring within Man City’s football esports division. After more than five years of service at the club, its esports players Ryan Pessoa and Shaun ‘Shellzz’ Springette have departed Man City. This comes as EA SPORTS FC 24 launches, marking the end of EA’s long-running licensing partnership with FIFA. As a result, a new name has joined Manchester City with Matias Bonanno set to compete in EAFC’s new ePremier League.

very strong in North America and Gen.G obviously stronger in the Far East, which is where we’ve been on tour actually.” Last year, FaZe Clan hosted a fan popup event at the Etihad Stadium ahead of the club’s match with Liverpool FC. This also included Man City footballer Kyle Walker wearing FaZe Clan-branded football boots for the match. This year, the football club travelled to South Korea for its pre-season campaign, but not without securing a partnership with Gen.G, which will include future experiences and

GEN CITY One of the strategic decisions that have made Man City’s esports operations stand out is its relationships with tier-one esports organisations. Since the turn of the COVID pandemic, Man City has teamed up with esports goliaths FaZe Clan and Gen.G to create a range of in-person and online activations for audiences in the UK, US and South Korea. “North America is a key market for us as a club, you’ll be surprised to hear that Far East is also a key region for us as well,” said Johnson. “FaZe is obviously

Image credit: ‘City Football Group’

Activations aim to cultivate new fandoms by offering experiences that connect people with the club. This isn’t just exclusive to esports: traditional sports clubs are built on their loyal fanbases, whether it is those that pay to go watch their team play or buy merchandise online. Johnson continued: “When that next 12-year-old girl in Korea is choosing which team she wants to connect with on the football pitch, it’s actually, well, ‘Man City are really cool because they show up in my space’. So, you know, we worked

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very hard at sort of fostering those connections into that world.” It’s clear to see the benefits that football clubs gain from entering the esports ecosystem, and that’s without even mentioning the competitive prestige of winning major trophies in the scene. FC Barcelona’s recent esports endeavours, for example, saw the club tap into the Spanish regional League of Legends market as it sought to target local, younger esports fandoms. The England national football team has also bolstered its relationship with esports fans through various written and video activations featuring its national footballers and the ‘eLions’, England’s national esports team that competes in the FIFAe Nations Cup. However, a question that doesn’t get asked too often is: does the esports ecosystem benefit from football clubs entering the scene? Lewis believes so. “The growing inclusion of football clubs within the esports ecosystem provides a diversification against traditional esports organisations,” he said. CULTURE CROSSOVER Man City’s ability to tap into football talent, which has included integrations with the likes of Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish and Chloe Kelly into its gaming content, shines a light on the overall esports industry. Alongside the likes of Chloe Kelly being featured on various Youtube channels talking about EA’s FIFA, Man City ambassadors and former footballers Shaun Wright Phillips and Joleon Lescott were present during Gen.G’s game night activation to meet with fans of both sectors. “Football clubs are also able to expose esports as an industry to different football and gaming fan demographics,” said Lewis.

Image credit: ‘City Football Group’

Still, with football clubs providing exposure to the esports sector, it is equally as important that these operations are done with time and care. The bigger the club that enters the scene, the more it opens new eyes to the esports ecosystem. This perhaps explains Man City’s slow expansion process and pragmatic approach to entering titles competitively. When asked if Man City considers its esports approach to be more focused on community or competitiveness, City Football Group’s Media Director answered: “I think we can do both. “Anything we do as a club, we try to do it expertly and authentically. On the competitive nature of esports, we give it our best shot. It’s a very competitive landscape, obviously.” On the community aspect, Johnson, in particular, shone a light on its activations with Manchester-based Twitch streamer Faraaz ‘FG’ Ghaffur and US-based content creator Kacee. By engaging with esports communities

through content creators and personalities, it provides an authentic way to connect with audiences Manchester City’s commitment to the esports sector can be seen straight on the club’s website, with its ‘players’ tab highlighting its men’s, women’s, academy and esports rosters. The esports scene may be going through a period of trials and tribulations, particularly from an economic standpoint. However, what’s still clear to see is that there is a passionate audience across a wide variety of competitive games that is still growing to this day. As long as that audience is there, esports will always lure sports clubs in as they look to tap into new demographics. As esports and gaming culture continues to ferment and become ingrained into society, it might be sooner rather than later that we see a football club win a World Championship in a tier-one esports title.

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A Troubled Timeline Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition DEAL ANNOUNCED January 2022 FTC BLOCKS DEAL December 2022 The Federal Trade Commission formally announces a lawsuit blocking the deal. The FTC argues that the merger will hurt competition in the cloud gaming and console gaming spaces by “denying or degrading rivals’” access to popular content.

UK, EU PROVISIONALLY OPPOSE DEAL February 2023 UK and EU regulators outline their provisional concerns about the acquisition, citing similar reasons to the FTC — a warning sign for Microsoft that there is a long road ahead.

UK OFFICIALLY BLOCKS DEAL April 2023 The UK competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), blocks the merger in the UK, citing the consequences on the cloud gaming market as the main reason. The deal, the CMA said, would have led to “reduced innovation and less choice” for UK gamers.

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ech giant Microsoft made headlines in January 2022 by announcing its intention to buy Activision Blizzard, one of the world’s most-valuable gaming companies, for $68.7bn (~£50.5bn). The news took the world by storm and was quickly labelled one of the most influential deals in the history of gaming.

The acquisition would set Microsoft up as a key player in esports at a

difficult time for the industry. Via its would-be ownership of Overwatch, Call of Duty, StarCraft and other esports titles, the involvement of Microsoft — one of the world’s most valuable companies — may offer a mark of legitimacy as esports goes through financial struggles and a downturn in investor confidence. It could induce further investment — or, equally, a scaling back — of Activision Blizzard’s esports plans.

DEAL APPROVED IN EU, CHINA, SOUTH KOREA May 2023 After an in-depth investigation the European Union’s Commission rules in May that the merger would not significantly hurt competition, as it had previously found. The deal also receives approval in a number of major esports markets, including China and South Korea.

COURT DENIES FTC’S INJUNCTION REQUEST; FTC WITHDRAWS CASE July 2023 After losing its attempt to obtain a preliminary injunction and restraining order against the deal, the FTC in July officially withdraws its initial case against the merger, paving the way for the deal to go ahead in the US.

However, it’s late 2023 and the two companies are yet to officially tie the knot due to a number of legal hurdles, lawsuits and inquiries from governments all around the world. The timeline below recaps the deal’s trials and tribulations over the last two years as it inches closer and closer to the finish line.

UK REGULATOR GIVES PRELIMINARY APPROVAL TO NEW DEAL September 2023 The CMA grants its preliminary blessing in September to a new, updated version of the deal presented by Microsoft. The new deal notably included concessions, including an agreement to hand streaming rights for its games to Ubisoft for 15 years.

CONCLUSION The deal is set to expire on October 18th, 2023. While at the time of writing the merger is yet to officially happen, signs are pointing to its successful conclusion — marking an end to a tumultuous and expensive bid to merge two titans in esports and gaming.

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Supported by our advertiser, GRID.

Esports Data’s Rise to Relevance How unlocking data doors shifted the esports ecosystem AUTHOR Tom Daniels  @TheTomDaniels

rom its foundation in 2018, GRID has taken the esports data ecosystem by storm. By utilising its technologies to create data-led projects that have bolstered esports-focused businesses — such as betting, fan engagement, coaching and production — the company has created a game-agnostic platform that currently

works with heavy hitters such as Riot Games and KRAFTON. GRID’s ambitions as a company have been compacted into the vision: ‘Unlocking the potential of esports data.’ With this door now firmly open, the possibilities have been endless. More people than ever before are

seeing esports data as more than just binary code and recent AI solutions look to thrive on the potential esports data offers. However, to appreciate the present and future of esports data, we must understand the past. Simply put, it wasn’t always straightforward; when GRID first launched at ESI London 2018, esports data was largely an untouched, unexplored resource. Game data was largely kept behind closed doors and only very few game developers equipped their game with any game data infrastructure to unearth the data. There was still an inherent lack of understanding when it comes to esports data and working with data platforms to distribute its prized possession. CHANGING THE GAME As Moritz Maurer, CEO and Founder of GRID, sits in his home office in Germany to reflect on how esports data has evolved over the years, there is a sense of achievement that emanates from his

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face — even through the screen — during the online interview. “When we started, the concept of a [data] rights holder in esports didn’t exist,” he emphasised. “When we started GRID, I looked at the game developers and thought that they must be brilliant with data and with APIs and data infrastructure. But we quickly realised that to develop a comprehensive data ecosystem for a game title, it eats up a lot of significant resources on the game developer side. “We happened to have the right people and expertise onboard and quickly these factors have become our unique strengths. So with us now building APIs for games and data infrastructure, that’s quite an expansion and it’s really making good on our claim.” However, according to Maurer, as GRID started to partner with game publishers and the first tangible benefits of game data solutions were proven, the industry became more receptive to the concept of in-game data. “Of course, it takes time,” he said. “But in the end, you arrive at a strategy that showcases the benefits to this entire ecosystem. This is not just for the commercial distribution of the data; the main benefits really lie in empowering a community, your competitive stakeholders, and allowing and creating a level playing field around data.” BOLSTERING ESPORTS BETTING One of the main drivers for GRID that initially led to collaborations with major game publishers and tournament operators was the ever-growing esports betting market. As the esports sector was becoming more prominent, bookmakers — endemic and nonendemic — started looking to bolster their offerings. However, to do so in a

meaningful way, official data solutions had to be created. This was GRID’s first call to action. It was the company’s chance to prove how useful it could be in what is a heavily regulated and integrityfocused betting industry. Maurer explained: “What is also super important about betting use cases, is it’s a really tough one to get right. Because the quality of the data feed that you generate, is going to be under more scrutiny than anywhere else. If you screw up, your customers literally lose money.” Collecting official data straight from tournament operators revolutionised how esports could be offered as a betting product. When it came to creating live betting solutions with bookmakers, previously companies were only able to utilise scraped data generated from esports livestreams, which most of the time were incomplete or had a delay. By working alongside event operators, GRID was able to access non-delayed data that could be offered to betting stakeholders.

Gaining recognition from game publishers themselves was another major milestone in the ever-blossoming esports data relationship. By teaming up with the likes of KRAFTON and Riot Games, for example, it positioned GRID as ‘go-to’ solutions for esports data. By being the data bridge between bookmakers and game titles, ultimately this helped grow the esports betting sector as it provided the industry with credibility. By aligning with prominent players in the esports space, certain integrity concerns over where the data was being generated was somewhat alleviated and it provided a gateway for more reputable bookmakers, such as Pinnacle, to invest in the scene. HOW AI IS POWERING DATA PORTALS GRID has already used AI for its predictive modelling solution since its inception. However, following developments in AI technology — notably the hype of generative AI products such as ChatGPT, the company is about to launch its own

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LLM-based (large language model) AI tools for the platform. This will allow GRID platform users to search for data analytics using natural language prompts, making data collection for consumers significantly more accessible. As an example, Maurer stated that if a user wanted insight into a specific match at any tournament, they could now write details such as, ‘for [insert match] find me every round in which the team secured the first kill but ended up losing the round’, and that data will now be presented with a set of visualisations that are adapted accordingly. The benefits for players, coaches, press, and more are severalfold. He also highlighted that the growth of AI has helped when it comes to product creation, with companies able to significantly shorten time and risk when it comes to developing new ideas.

This allows companies like GRID, as well as any data consumer, to try out more approaches and accelerate growth. Maurer teased more platform-related projects in the near future. “For the next five years, we want to be the universal entry point for anybody who wants to do something cool with data,” Maurer exclaimed. That being said, there are fears and criticisms regarding the over-reliance of AI across all industries, particularly with concerns over job losses and misinformation. Nevertheless, Maurer’s stance is that this technology can work alongside individuals to create solutions and develop ideas further. “If there is any industry that is actually not afraid — it’s the gaming industry,” he said. BUILDING THE BLOCKS Perhaps one of GRID’s biggest collaborations with a game developer

was the VALORANT Data Portal, a one-stop-shop for VALORANT esports data that is accessible to partner organisations and coaches. This data can be utilised by coaches and analysts to help delve into in-game statistical performances of their rosters, alongside opposition players, acting as a valuable tool for preparation and scouting. Maurer highlighted in particular how Riot Games and GRID worked together on the data portal in order to create a level playing field around data, ensuring organisations that can afford an analytics company are not the only benefactors. Creating a multi-use esports data company and platform was no easy feat according to Maurer, and GRID’s technology has significantly developed throughout its five-year lifespan. The founder noted, however, that ensuring the platform was game-agnostic, meaning that it could be plugged into

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any title, was key to its IP. Making a platform adaptable, whilst also detailed and scalable, is easier said than done, especially in an industry that is fastpaced and ever-changing. He explained: “If you think about being game title agnostic, that sounds like common sense. You want something scalable and reliable, in an industry that is changing constantly, when new game titles come and go and the games themselves change all the time. To actually pull it off is really hard. And I can say now, we pulled it off after a few years. But it requires a lot of discipline.”

“You want something scalable and reliable, in an industry that is changing constantly, when new game titles come and go and the games themselves change all the time.” Breaking down how GRID’s data platform can fit into multiple games, Maurer simplified it as having a box of Lego blocks, with each block representing a different data output that can be collected, for example, kills, assists, round wins and so on. As a result, when endeavouring into a different game, GRID is able to utilise these data output blocks to build the solution brick by brick. Whilst the process of creating the individual bricks was, and still is, a monumental task, it provided long-term and quicker benefits.

“Along the way, we stuck to not taking any shortcuts,” Maurer said. “There’s a lot of companies that instead decided not to care about licensing the data or entering into a partnership with the rights holder first approach, instead scraping it and monetising it leaving the owner of the IP out. They’re not part of the ecosystem. They sit aside and you could make a quick buck on this, but it’s not a long-term strategy and it’s very short-sighted.” WHAT’S NEXT FOR ESPORTS DATA? Despite developments being made and esports data being in a more advanced stage than it was, GRID’s vision remains the same. The scope of the company’s solutions continue to expand as greater tech is developed and interest grows, however, there is still more to explore. Demystifying esports data from a consumer standpoint is one such ambition for GRID, particularly as more and more esports fans are showing greater interest in the business side of the esports sector. GRID’s Data Jam, where Esports Insider was a media partner, is one such initiative that looks to raise awareness and promote data programming. According to Maurer, the data programming competition — which sees individuals use the GRID Open Access to create a new data-focused product — had over 800 people signed up, something that would be unheard of five years ago.

In esports, five years is a long time. Within that period, the ecosystem has rapidly changed and professionalised with new technologies being launched to bolster broadcasting, game developments and even esports data collection. So where does GRID expand its esports data solutions next, especially since it is prevalent across betting, broadcasting and tournament organisation? “Even though we’re living and breathing this topic of data, we are humble enough to say, we cannot anticipate all the cool stuff that will happen,” said Maurer, “We embrace being the platform and empower others to succeed, and want to enable the next wave of innovation in esports.” What is for sure when speaking to Maurer is that GRID is built on a passion for data. This passion has somewhat spread across the esports ecosystem. And it’s a passion that was epitomised when he was asked to reflect on GRID’s journey, simply saying: “We dared to dream.”

Moritz Maurer Founder & CEO GRID

Ultimately, the reason for investing in this development is to ensure that GRID is a part of the esports ecosystem, not just alongside it.

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Out of Stock? The rise and fall of esports investments AUTHOR Ollie Ring  @olliering

nvestment into the esports industry peaked in 2018. Per Deloitte figures, 68 (disclosed) investments were made to the tune of $4.5 billion in value. The majority came through venture capital funding, which at the time was booming off the back of the ‘esports’ buzzword. 56% of all investments came from VC companies, with a mixture of family office, private equity and strategic making up the remainder.

The venture capital interest was unsurprising, given the nascent profile of the esports industry five years ago. VC firms often provide funding pre-revenue and are involved in early and seed round funding, targeting start-ups with unique concepts that have the potential for long-term return on investment. Shikhar Ghosh, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School has published research showing approximately 75% of venture-backed firms do not return investors’ capital (US specific, but the trend is expected to apply globally).

Ghosh estimates 30-40% of highpotential US start-ups fail, if failure is defined as the company liquidating all of its assets and investors losing all their money. He adds that if failure is defined as failing to see the projected return on investment, then more than 95% of start-ups fail.

With increased visibility and capital, however, there is nowhere to hide. Propelled by (nonsensical) headlines claiming esports already garners bigger viewership than the Super Bowl and is a goldmine, attracting initial investment has long been the easy part.

Post-pandemic the esports investment craze has slowed, and as such those seeking capital raises have had to look elsewhere. 2022 saw the lowest amount of VC investment in the esports industry since 2016 (excluding 2020, where feasibility of live events was impacted by COVID-19).

Profitability, on the other hand, has not come so easily. Venture capital firms may expect a 5-10x investment in a few years, but due to salary inflation, the absence of media rights and a tricky relationship between secondary organisations and the ultimate IP holder, the ‘P’ word remains elusive for most.

WHY GO PUBLIC? To put it simply, the main reason behind going public is to strengthen a company’s capital base. Through selling shares to the public, it is an ‘easy’ way to garner interest-free capital, increase company prestige and visibility and broaden future channels for capital acquisition.

Going public brings huge additional business pressure. It increases regulatory burden and cost-base, places additional restrictions on management decisions, gives extra reliance on short-term growth, and the ultimate burden: it forces business transparency and disclosure to the public.

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ESPORTS LISTED COMPANIES: THE STATE OF PLAY COMPANY

ALL TIME HIGH

ALL TIME LOW

CURRENT

Allied Esports Entertainment Inc

EUR 3.4935

EUR 0.8249

EUR 0.84

Astralis A/S

DKK 9.000

DKK 0.6220

DKK 0.6460

Enthusiast Gaming

USD 8.4900

USD 0.3300

USD 0.3345

ESE Entertainment Inc

CAD 4.5800

CAD 0.0950

CAD 0.1650

Esports Entertainment Group

USD 2448.0

USD 0.06

USD 0.1201

EBET (formerly Esports Technologies)

USD 36.16

USD 0.0271

USD 0.0577

FaZe Holdings Inc

USD 24.69

USD 0.1722

USD 0.1755

Fragbite Group AB

SEK 9.88

SEK 1.85

SEK 2.29

GameSquare Esports

USD 164.40

USD 1.27

USD 2.22

Gfinity

GBP 37.4

GBP 0.055

GBP 0.105

Guild Esports

GBP 5.14

GBP 0.55

GBP 0.68

Leet Technology

USD 4.00

USD 0.0075

USD 0.0151

OverActive Media

CAD 2.70

CAD 0.1450

CAD 0.1900

Real Luck Group (Luckbox)

CAD 1.80

CAD 0.02

CAD 0.06

Rivalry

CAD 3.04

CAD 0.65

CAD 1.60

Semper Fortis

GBP 4.20

GBP 0.08

N/A (Folded)

Simplicity Esports and Gaming Company

USD 95.52

USD 0.002

USD 0.0026

Super League Gaming

USD 87.600

USD 0.085

USD 1.1581

Author’s note: Due to different currencies and vastly different durations of being public, the above figures are indicative and not necessarily directly comparable. Data recorded as of September 20th, 2023.

There’s a healthy amalgamation of different companies, varying exchanges and different operational markets. There are esports organisations, betting operators, media companies and events too. From a quick glance at the figures, it doesn’t take a City-level investment analyst to spot that the vast majority of companies have plummeted from lofty peaks to hit damning nadirs. A thorough analysis of each individual company would produce a small book — and not one that makes for particularly pleasant reading.

As aforementioned, companies typically decide to go public to generate capital and create public awareness, especially so in esports’ case. Esports as a capitalgenerating buzzword can be applied to some of the above companies, hence the significant highs. Failure to then produce short-term growth or any sign of positive uptick in financial performance or a potential return on investment can quickly lead to stock value dissipating. Most of the above stocks did not have a fatal day, but saw a decay over time. Esports Technologies (now EBET) no

longer has any esports activity, now operating online casino brands, but was able to attract significant capital upon listing. Esports Technologies made a plethora of capital-heavy acquisitions that later were sold at a loss to ensure continued operations. Allied Esports sold its World Poker Tour property and its main revenue generating asset, resultantly left with an esports bus and the HyperX Arena in Las Vegas. Guild and Semper Fortis went for a ‘football ambassador’ meets esports team approach; the latter pivoted away from esports entirely and the former has so far weathered the storm. Gfinity Esports

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has pivoted from event organiser, which claimed in 2016 that “the time is right for a UK esports arena,” to no longer having an esports division.

PERFORMANCE OF PUBLICLY-TRADED ESPORTS COMPANIES COMPARED TO S&P500 Indexed, last 24 months.

Esports stock has not always performed poorly when compared to the wider public world, as indicated by a comparison of the S&P500 to esports stocks compiled by professor, author and entrepreneur Joost van Dreunen. However, as the notoriously dubbed ‘esports winter’ has set in, public stocks have tumbled accordingly, and it’s little surprise to many. FAZE…. UP? The most famous public esports company is undoubtedly FaZe Clan. Founded by the epitome of gamers, FaZe with an eclectic mixture of influencers and esports stars has always been at the forefront of conversation. The company went public through a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) listing, and has plummeted from a $1 billion ‘valuation’ to almost worthless. FaZe’s market capitalisation (share price multiplied by number of shares) stood at $1.38 billion in August 2022, and now stands at just $13.4 million. Shares once worth over $24 are now worth less than 18 cents. Former FaZe president Gregory Selkoe recently remarked to Bloomberg: “It was not a company that really should be sharing what’s going on publicly at this point,” and so it proved. Recent times

Image credit: FaZe Clan via X.

Source: Company financials. Aggregated avegare stock price. Image credit: Joost van Dreunen / SuperJoost.

have proved that using buzzwords to generate hype can only get you so far — public scrutiny and transparent financials will soon see any poorly managed business exposed. Then- CEO Lee Trink took to the stage at the NASDAQ exchange in New York when FaZe’s stock started trading in July 2022, heralding the “renegade teenagers” who founded FaZe as the famous ‘F’ logo lit up Times Square. $500,000 a year on NickMercs, $1.38 million a year for the CEO’s salary and $60,000 a month on luxury properties for content did not an appealing investment make, as it transpires. Where the Overwatch League is now talked about as a setback for esports —

bringing mainstream investment and media attention to esports and ultimately souring the narrative for both — the public listing of FaZe, and its subsequent stock price decline, may meet the same fate. A LESSON LEARNED What esports public listings do provide is much needed business transparency and a chance for analysts to truly assess the state of the overall industry. Taking Rivalry as an example, the esports-focused betting operator is touting profitability by the first half of 2024. The filings give a solid overall picture of the company’s financial health, as well as allowing analysts to gauge its trajectory. The likes of GameSquare and Enthusiast whose primary revenue driver sits outside of the esports organisations it owns, are also showing a degree of stability scant seen elsewhere. For the few making it work, there’s a litany of publicly listed esports companies that haven’t. In 2023, now the hype-fuelled growth has died down, esports is entering a stage of maturity where quick buzzword capital raises have fast faded from existence.

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Is Indian Esports Going Too Fast? Promised Land — or house of cards? AUTHOR Ranjit ‘MambaSR’ Patel  @SenorMamba

he tenacity that the Indian esports industry has displayed has been nothing short of commendable, and the pace at which it is growing has been phenomenal. BGMI has resurrected after not one, but two government bans, and Free Fire has also returned to the market after a year’s ban. CS2 has arrived, and VALORANT has a thriving player base. Esports is being televised on national television, and OTT platforms are bagging broadcast deals. But despite a surge in momentum, who really is making money here — and for how long?

India saw incredible growth in internet penetration between 2018-2022. According to a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) 44

and KANTAR, the number of internet users grew from 462 million in 2018 to 759 million in 2022, a 60% growth in four years, which is still only half the country’s population. This presents an incredible opportunity to monetise an expanding user base. For the longest time, it has been believed that esports is growing in size (which it is), and the bigger the audience, the better the possibility of generating revenue. On the surface that may seem logical, but the intricacies of consumer habits, especially in esports, have been a problem. This problem is only compounded in India when you look at the spending habits and purchasing power of the Indian audience. Simply put, the expenditure

Image credit: Skyesports

to expand the audience is no longer justified because the amount of money spent by tournament operators (TOs) on non-publisher third-party events is not generating enough revenue from the end user, that is, the viewer. I am strictly speaking of non-publisher events because publishers have all the money in the world to do these events and write them off as marketing expenses, even if they do not make the money back. However, the esports scene in India was largely driven by third-party events until publishers like Riot, Krafton, and Garena came in and started executing their own events. The problem is not that third-party events cannot be profitable, for they

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absolutely can be. However, at the scale at which it is currently happening, it is almost impossible to make that money back. This is a glaring issue in the PC esports circuit. You may remember Skyesports announcing a never-seenbefore prize pool for CS:GO in India, standing at INR 2 crores (~$244,000). It grabbed global headlines, with everyone in the CS:GO scene talking about it. This announcement came after Riot Games decided to go with Nodwin Gaming to exclusively run the VALORANT Challengers League South Asia. With doors closed to host any VALORANT tournaments for almost eight months in a year, along with BGMI and Free Fire being banned, Counter-Strike was the most obvious choice given the fact that obtaining a tournament license from Valve was as simple as just filling out a form, and it stood automatically approved as long as TOs fulfilled their obligations. As a response, Skyesports launched its own franchised league in CSGO, with

Image credit: Skyesports

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eight organisations invited to partner with them. Skyesports’ founder and CEO, Shiva Nandy, proclaimed when the league was announced: “Skyesports Masters is set to revolutionise esports in India. The franchised system has found eight partners to be a part of the inaugural season of the league. The league aims to create not only one of the grandest tournaments but also to build a viable ecosystem for esports organisations, unlocking many revenue streams for them. This is particularly important as many organisations are struggling with significant losses in the Indian esports industry.” The last sentence of the statement is particularly interesting because it echoes what a select few industry experts have been bringing attention to. TOs and team owners have almost all been incurring losses because there is simply not enough revenue. On top of that, the one effort Skyesports made to build a franchised league with the idea of providing a steady revenue stream to the organisations will not

Image credit: Skyesports

Image via: Ranjit Patel

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be permitted by Valve from 2025. The game developer announced in August that come 2025, tournament organisers cannot have unique business relationships or conflicts of interest with certain teams. This practically kills any possibility of a franchised model or guaranteed slots. The audience is consuming content which they do not want to, or can’t, pay for. A majority of Indian esports consumers simply do not have disposable income to support these operations, and the few that do would likely rather spend it on something else. The moment you ask them to pay for it, they move on to the next free content piece. The data backs this up: the demographic that consumes esports content in India is between 14-30 years old. Most of them are students until they turn 22-24. According to the 2022 Kantar and IAMAI report, India had 759 Million active internet users in 2022, and only 360 million were from urban areas. More importantly, only 31% of the 360 million are from the top nine metro cities by population, which is around 112 million. The reason why this is important to consider is because of a report by Dr Bibek Debroy, the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), which stated that an income of Rs. 25,000 / month (~$300) places you in the top 10% of wage earners in India. Presumably, a majority of these top wage earners belong to urban India. This is crucial to note because all LAN events happen in these nine cities, yet most, if not all, do not charge an entry fee. Free entry is rather advertised to encourage audiences to fill up the arenas. In addition to free entry, most events invite influencers to host meet and greets, which incur an additional cost to the TO, but none of this cost is recovered from the attendee. Some

Image credit: The Esports Club

organisers go as far as hosting concerts, which are also free to attend. The strategy here is to pump up the number of viewers so they can showcase it to brands. This begs the question, does the promised land even exist? From where I am sitting, I certainly do not see it. Particularly for PC esports titles. Money is being burned beyond reason. A tournament operator cannot host a third-party VALORANT event for eight months of the year, and for the remaining four months, tournament licenses are distributed amongst organisers with the understanding that tournaments do not overlap with each other. As of August 18th, only three events have been confirmed to happen in India in the off-season. This means a third party TO effectively only has four months in a year to conduct esports-related activities for VALORANT in India. It also indicates that team owners do not have enough incentive to field rosters throughout the year. A few prominent organisations have dropped their rosters; some have tried to negotiate lower salaries, and players have responded by rejecting it, inadvertently getting dropped. Team Sarafa, for example, consists of big names who decided to join forces in

the off-season to play without salaries under their own banner. Counter-Strike has it worse. Skyesports Masters 2023, which boasts of its Rs. 2 crore prize pool, was averaging approximately 50 viewers on YouTube in the league stage. The Paris Major Hindi desk (which I worked on), averaged around 20 viewers. The biggest question is, how will they make this money back? The viewers certainly are not paying, brands will take their marketing budget somewhere else when they do not see the results, and the VCs might pull the plug if they do not see profits. If the TOs cannot sustain themselves, they will be reduced to mere service providers to publishers, executing publisher events. The stakeholders need to do better: they need to start focusing on sustainability rather than being the first or the largest. It is imperative they focus on products and not on headlines. The argument that esports is growing simply does not work anymore on its own. The Indian esports industry has been growing for the last 15 years, and if we have not learnt how to make it profitable in all these years, there is a good chance we never will if we carry on the same path. 47

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From our advertiser, Ross Video

Celebrating The Future A case study on Confetti’s esports production complex AUTHOR James Ransome, Ross Video

n a relatively short stretch of time, esports events have transformed from scrappy home LAN matches to global spectacles that sell out sports stadiums, complete with celebrity performances and dance routines.

The pace of innovation, and the resulting broadcast quality standards, in esports have grown in line with the industry’s size over the last couple decades. But to maintain expectations, a new generation of endemic production professionals must come through — and for that, they need somewhere to train. In this rapidly evolving world of esports, where innovation and technology merge to create immersive gaming experiences, the Confetti X Esports Complex stands as an example of 48

the future of the industry. Through a purposeful combination of education and cutting-edge technology, Confetti X stands as the model for contemporary esports hubs. Ross Video, a global leader in live video production solutions, has played an instrumental role in bringing this state-of-the-art facility to life. With an unwavering commitment to working with partners to push the boundaries of what’s possible with a live event space, we partnered with Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies to craft an esports complex that not only raises the bar, but also redefines it. In this case study, we explore the Confetti X Esports Complex project, and the lessons that can be learnt for others with similar aspirations in the

esports industry. We explore how our technology solutions have transformed it into a hub for competitive gaming, live streaming, and fan experiences. From LED displays that transport spectators into the virtual battlefield to production workflows that make every match a spectacle, here’s the inside scoop on the details that make the Confetti X Esports Complex tick. THE IDEA The Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies is an educational institution that provides specialty courses in esports, games, film, TV, media, events, and music. As part of Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham’s Confetti Media Group, the institute has earned a reputation for excellence in creative media education.

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The campus houses state-of-the-art creative media technology studios and over 2,000 students. In 2022, the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies launched a BSc (Hons) Esports Production degree. The degree is being facilitated by the 14,000 sq ft. Confetti X esports complex, which cost £5m to build. This cutting-edge esports facility has been designed to provide students with the opportunity to explore esports production and other emerging technologies. The facility has already attracted notable partners. In February 2022, Confetti struck a partnership with UK collegiate esports platform NUEL and edtech company GGTech Entertainment, in order to strengthen their collegiate esports offerings. NUEL also relocated its headquarters to the facility, proving the value it is already providing to the UK esports ecosystem.

THE CHALLENGE Designing an esports production facility from the ground up within a university setting posed a variety of challenges. Simply put, there aren’t a wealth of examples to go by; Confetti is pushing the envelope. As an ‘esports-first facility’, the venue needed a production system that was flexible enough to support the unique requirements of a range of games. For example, executing live events around a mobile game, versus a sports simulation game, versus a MOBA or FPS game, can vary considerably. Another challenge was preparing Confetti X students for real-world success. It was imperative to equip them with hands-on experience using industry-grade production equipment so that they could seamlessly transition into their careers after graduation.

Designing an esports production facility from the ground up within a university setting posed a variety of challenges. Simply put, there aren’t a wealth of examples to go by; Confetti is pushing the envelope. THE SOLUTION To meet the unique challenge of producing events around a wide range of esports titles while also providing students with industry-leading broadcast tools, Confetti X installed a comprehensive solution from Ross Video. From hyperconverged production switchers, real-time motion graphics, replay systems, signal processing

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gear, and camera robotics, these tools are seamlessly integrated using the RossTalk protocol, ensuring a highly flexible and streamlined operation. “Designing an esports production turn-key solution comes with many challenges,” Gin Rai, Head of Esports at Confetti, explained. “What we discovered worked really well was engaging with the Ross Video team to provide us with on-site training so we had enough handson time with the tech to come up with solutions that are unique to our space.” The core elements of the Ross Video solution at Confetti X include: • Ultrix Carbonite hyperconverged production switcher • TouchDrive control panels • XPression graphics • Mira replay system • Tally control systems • Smartshell camera control system • 350x pan tilt heads robotic cameras • AI visionary Facial Tracking (FT) THE IMPACT The implementation of Ross Video’s solution has significantly expanded

Confetti X’s esports production capabilities, enabling them to produce several major industry events, including the finals of the Amazon University Esports Masters. Moreover, the integration of Ross products has streamlined the workflow at Confetti X, unifying the control of LED displays, videoboards, camera robotic systems, lighting, music, and more into a single video production system. With the help of a custom DashBoard panel, the Confetti X team can now control their full suite of Ross and third-party products in a single platform, opening the door to a new world of creative possibilities. Moreover, by providing students with access to industry-grade production equipment and a versatile video production system, Confetti X is nurturing the creativity of the next generation of video production professionals, ensuring they are wellprepared after graduation. We’re already seeing the fruits of this relationship; using Ross Video’s equipment, Confetti’s students have

worked with game developer Riot Games on the TFT Dragonlands Championship in 2022, worked on several Amazon UNIVERSITY Esports events, and even notably on the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championship, a pilot event during the official 2022 Commonwealth Esports Games. The success of the Confetti X Esports complex sets a benchmark for other educational institutions looking to embrace cutting-edge technologies and enhance creative media education. It is imperative that the next generation of esports producers are trained on industry-leading equipment to maintain the very high production level expected of esports events. We at Ross Video hope to help maintain that standard. About the author: James Ransome is the Business Development Manager for Sports & Live Events (EMEA) at Ross Video. Ransome has worked in sales inside and outside the production industry, and now helps Ross Video power video productions for billions of global viewers daily.

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Supported by our advertiser, SideQuest

Questing for the Grassroots How SideQuest’s gaming cafes bring esports to the masses AUTHOR Jake Nordland  @callmeprivate

998 was a wild year for esports. Several industrydefining titles were released that year, including StarCraft, Half-Life (whose Counter-Strike mod would go on to shape the industry) and Net Fighter (likely the first ever onlineonly fighting game). Veteran esports organisation K1ck Esports was also founded and a number of venerated

names like Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses were soon to launch. Also founded in 1998 was Chinese internet cafe chain Wanyoo, now known in the UK as SideQuest Gamers Hub. One could argue esports was born in internet or gaming cafes like theirs across Asia; nerdy early-adopters flocking round flanks of computers to compete in

nascent multiplayer online games like StarCraft is what laid the foundation for esports’ growth. A lot has changed since then. Esports now exists on a scale few could have imagined at the time. Yet while the media attention, shining lights and frenetic crowds remain pinned on the flashy top tier of the esports pyramid,

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SideQuest is catering to the place where it all began, and where much of esports still happens: the grassroots. “[SideQuest] offers a space where everyone from the most competitive people to the most casual can play at an affordable price,” Dalian Ghent, Events & Community Coordinator at SideQuest, told The Esports Journal.”If you are looking to get an in-person grind session in with your team, SideQuest offers the facility to do so.”

“[SideQuest] offers a space where everyone from the most competitive people to the most casual can play at an affordable price”. The size, scale and dizzying heights of professional esports has thrust top gamers into celebrity status. But only a select handful out of the global population will ever get close to competing on stage at LAN. The passion, emotion and raw intensity of competitive gaming shouldn’t be exclusive to the upper echelon, SideQuest believes. VENUES AND OFFERINGS SideQuest’s venues — three in London (Charing Cross, Elephant & Castle, and Stratford), one in Leicester and another in Coventry — allow players of all abilities to partake in esports in an in-person setting. SideQuest’s five locations are kitted out with top-of-the-line gaming PCs, consoles and sim rigs, and have all the gear to boot. They also serve food and drink, including SideQuest’s well-known bubble teas — a nod to its roots. Yet SideQuest said facilitating access to competitive gaming is only part of the

reason customers attend its stores. The social and community side is equally, if not more, important. “Alongside good gaming equipment, I think it’s the social aspect of it,” said Anna Irina, SideQuest’s Social Media Coordinator. “It doesn’t matter if you go on your own or with friends, it’s nice to be surrounded by like-minded people and

see others play your favourite games. You never know who might sit next to you in the public PC area — if they play the same game as you, you might end up making valuable acquaintances and finding teammates in real life.” The internet cafe chain is resultantly ramping up its esports offering. Its venues already host regular local 53

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tournaments and community nights in games like League of Legends, CounterStrike, VALORANT, as well as Street Fighter and Smash Bros and others. “We hope to branch out into bigger and better [tournaments in the future], harbouring different games and exposing the variety of esports, as well as offering a space for teams to practise and reach their potential,” Ghent said.

“We hope to branch out into bigger and better [tournaments in the future], harbouring different games and exposing the variety of esports”. SIDEQUEST’S NEW SIDEKICK In an effort to bolster the grassroots esports scene and better cater to competitively-minded gamers, SideQuest

recently launched SideKick, an initiative where coaches and experienced players can sign up to offer coaching services to those looking to improve. Zhoarong Chen, CEO and Founder of SideQuest, described SideKick as an online gaming social platform that

helps gamers find the right teammates, trainers, and friends. Gamers can register themselves as coaches, and then get hired by other gamers that want to learn new skills or improve in-game, he told The Esports Journal. SideKick cleverly combines the sorely underdeveloped coaching market in esports with venues for face-to-face training to take place, though remote online coaching is also an option. The company is also exploring other ways to provide value to customers at its centres. Alongside SideKick, SideQuest recently launched a Web3 gaming initiative, through which SideQuest will host tournaments, run online competitions with Web3 prizes, and educate the community about the role of Web3 in gaming. “Given Web3 will power the next wave of gaming, we want SideQuest to be a Web3 gaming hub to take the existing gaming experiences that so many across the world love and elevate it,” Chen said. He emphasised that SideQuest’s focus will always be on the quality of the games first, and Web3 second. “The ambition is to become a hub for Web3

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games, a platform that connects players and Web3 games, allowing gamers to socially play together and benefit from aspects of Web3 gaming.” GAMING CAFE CULTURE It’s no secret that gaming cafe culture is a much bigger phenomenon in Asia than it is in Western markets like the UK. But things are changing, SideQuest argues, and its size is not to be underestimated. “[We’ve] built the UK’s largest game cafe brand with a community of 130,000+ international gamers,” Chen highlighted. Anteia Orteiro, SideQuest’s Director of Retail, agreed. “Video games are played by more than half of British adults… and on top of that, esports is getting more popular in the UK,” Orteiro said. “So the potential is there! That’s why we could see new gaming cafes opening their doors in the UK. Rather than playing alone at home, gamers can enjoy the gaming café with their friends and family.

minded company. That’s where the community aspect of it plays a big role.”

“But that doesn’t mean it’s not challenging. You need to find a way to facilitate genuine face-to-face interactions so gamers can find like-

After all, many would say community is at the heart of esports. It always has been, from its early days in small LANs to the bright lights of the biggest stages

today, and the cafes like SideQuest. As esports continues to evolve, the grassroots space will provide more opportunities for communities to gather and grow — and SideQuest wants to help facilitate it.

THE ESPORTS ICEBERG While the top tier of esports is going through a winter, there are more gamers than ever, and many online competitive video games are breaking player count records. SideQuest is there to tap into the lower, much larger part of the esports iceberg — where there are players with passion, time and disposable income to spend on their hobby. To serve this section of the community, SideQuest Gamers Hub runs gaming and bubble tea community nights, tournaments, cosplay and kpop events, watch parties, bootcamps and more. In the summer of this year, SideQuest announced the launch of its brand new community nights across a host of competitive games. These nights started with League of Legends, Valorant, Super Smash Bros, Street Fighter 6, and Splatoon 3 events. Taking place every Monday and Tuesday, Raid Nights focus on SideQuest’s highest-played games: League of Legends and Valorant. These nights specifically focus on bringing communities together by setting up a range of fun challenges, such as playing as specific Champions/Agents in a game to adapting your style of play in a match-up. Other community nights offer prize pools for games like Splatoon 3. Some of SideQuest’s events are also live streamed on the SideQuest Gamers Hub’s Twitch channel.

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Good Comms Discord and harmony in esports communities AUTHOR Riccardo Lichene  @riky_lichene

ne of the least discussed cornerstones of the esports and gaming world is Discord, the platform famous for its voice chat service that gamers use to communicate and organise. It’s perhaps not that talked about publicly because it’s always there, working in the background, linking players to their teammates, their coaches and their fans. The young platform wears this heritage with pride because without it a lot of today’s esports tournaments, especially at the grassroots level, would not exist.

winning Rocket League roster, told The Esports Journal.

But its influence extends right to the top, too. “If you don’t train you don’t win and most of the time we train on Discord, so the connection [to esports] is pretty obvious,” Yanis ‘Alpha’ Champenois, captain of Team Vitality’s reigning World Championship

“Discord was created in 2015 as a place for people to hang out before, during, and after playing video games,” Cherry Park, Discord’s Director of Product Marketing, told The Esports Journal in an interview discussing the platform’s role in esports.

The platform is ubiquitous amongst the disparate communities and fandoms that make up the esports world — even if its role is easily overlooked. Why, one might argue, would you use Discord in an era where almost all online multiplayer games have built-in voice comms? The answer is that the platform is not just about talking to each other; it’s about creating a digital meeting space where people from a specific community can gather, discuss and, most importantly, organise.

“Today, Discord is a destination for gamers, streamers, and competitive esports players as it offers teammates, competitors, coaches, and fans the ability to connect, whether it’s live-streamed events, global watch parties, or real-time practice sessions. “The platform provides reliable, highquality communication technology that has become fundamental in the gaming industry,” Park claimed, highlighting the seamless mix of voice, video and text communication that enables collaboration. That mix makes it a go-to tool for organising esports. “When you train and you need new opponents to test strategies or setups you just go to the community server and ask if there are people willing to compete,” explained Valerio Gallo, an Olympic Virtual Series

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medallist in Gran Turismo. “Within the hour you always have a full lobby.” Discord is creating more features dedicated to enabling competitive gaming, like its recent Xbox and Playstation releases that cater to console-based esports fans. “Discord’s platform helps nurture competitive gaming environments where teammates, friends, and communities can all come together,” Park explained. “It’s the difference between isolated online play and synchronised collaboration and competition, which, as any esports gamer or fan will tell you, is imperative to the overall experience.” Once its presence in esports became established — and it quickly stole market share from rivals like TeamSpeak — in came the requests both from the community and industry stakeholders. One of Discord’s most important features are its so-called servers, online meeting spaces run by users or companies. Easy-to-use and set up text and voice channels inside servers allow events to be organised, conversations held, polls conducted, and a slew of other activities that let communities interact with each other. Esports organisations in particular have benefited from Discord servers: you’d be hard pressed to find a major team without one. They’re widely used by teams to engage fans and keep them in their ecosystem — but also for sponsor activations, as they provide a direct way of engaging with the most dedicated parts of the team’s community. “Discord works with teams and players to set up servers that are tailored to their needs, including creating team awareness, engaging and retaining fans through content, and nurturing community growth,” Park continued. “We’ve previously partnered with Team

Liquid and LOUD to launch servers for their teams, players, and communities, and helped ensure safety and moderation were at the forefront of their server setup.” Outside its official partnerships, Discord as a platform has given rise to a slew of third party software, referred to as ‘Discord bots’, that have come to occupy an important role in facilitating esports communities. Many corners of the esports world rely on these community-made bots, which are used for everything from automated content moderation to the organisation of tournaments and practice sessions. Entire servers are dedicated to gathering and organising communities. In Rocket League, for example, once aspiring players hit the ceiling of the in-game ranked system, many turn to ‘6mans’, a Discord-based community with its own entire ranking and queue system that has become a go-to path to pro for Rocket League esports.

extension, esports: “They know what to build for their friends and communities and understand the opportunity apps provide for enhancing the experience. We developed the App Directory to serve as a helpful tool to make apps discoverable for users natively on Discord. With the App Directory, users are able to browse a database of third-party apps and app categories — from gaming, to moderation, to esports management, and more.” Nowadays, Discord has proven to be an integral part of the gaming and esports community. Whether it’s casual, competitive or professional play, having an account on the platform is almost indispensable as a modern player or fan. Unlike many of its predecessors, Discord is free to use and anyone can start their own server. As a result, the platform is a hotbed for esports experimentation. Many grassroots and communityfocused tournaments — the lifeblood of esports — are directly organised on the platform, alongside its use to organise scrims, a regular element of esports teams’ training. Discord claims it’s keen to further cater to competitive gaming communities. One example Park gave was an events calendar: “Each esports server is unique and has different goals, but a consistent theme we’ve seen is the desire to create a central hub to keep fans up-to-date on upcoming events, offline activities, personal updates, and more.”

Image credit: 6mans

Joshua Schmidt, a Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel world champion, corroborated the platform’s value. “We practise as a team most days, but sometimes you just need to go solo for a bit. I set up an event in the community Discord and by evening time we have a team ready for the night.” Park said that those developers are an integral part of Discord, and, by

Despite its vital role in the industry, Discord has bigger things on its mind than the comparatively small esports space, which likely occupies only a subset of its increasingly mainstream user base. Microsoft reportedly tried to buy the platform for upward of £10 billion in 2021. For now, however, Discord has succeeded in usurping its competitors and becoming one of the leading platforms on which, and through which, esports is performed.

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