League of Legends
The Heavyweight in E-Sports
Chapter 1 Everything You Need To Know
First Look Esports in general has a bad rep. Gamers are stereotyped into the basement living, no job, 50 year-old, overweight male that isn’t contributing much to the world. While there may be those people out there, they are definitely not the majority.
What is League of Legends? -League of Legends is a popular video game that over 100 million people play around the world per month. * -There are 5 positions on a team. The goal is to destroy the other team’s base -Mental and physical ability are what separates the pro players from the casual players much like professional sports. -LoL is a multiplayer online battle arena where teams of players compete for dominance, selecting from a growing cast of more than 100 uniquely powerful champions.
League of Legends character, Garen, The Might of Demacia
History League of Legends went live in 2009. It was released by a company named Riot Games that was founded in 2006. (Brandon Beck, Marc Merrill) As of 2014 Riot Games made $1 billion in solely micro transactions. (In game purchases)** On top of that it made $624 million from earnings (2014) In 2010 winners of GDC Game Developers Choice Award***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyDZYLYWcNg&t=6m4 2s
The Celebrities Faker South Korea (20 y/o) SKT Telecom- The Michael Jordan of Esports Over 1.1 million followers on Facebook One of 2 players to win World Championship twice Estimated that he has made over $1 million in his gaming career (2013-present) Was featured in the popular “Player’s Tribune” sports blog this past year.
Branding: Is it a sport? Sport by definition is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. There is no doubt that fine motor skills and twitch muscles are important in esports but what a lot of people don’t know is that the athletes of the gaming community train for 12 hours a day with maybe 1-2 days off a month. * There are injuries and physiologists there to cope with fatigued muscles.
Opportuniti es Just like all any other sport, esports takes years of practice, hard work and determination to be considered one of the elite. Out of all sports it has the lowest percentage of making it pro (.03%) Outside of the competitive professional level, there are many opportunities for players to go pro and make a living off of gaming.
Chapter 2 The Brief
Opportunities cont. Twitch TV A website for video game streamers. As of 2014, Twitch was responsible for 43.6% of ALL live video streaming traffic by volume. ESPN and CNN combined made up 7.1%. Rising and retired players use Twitch to make money and gain a following to get noticed by big teams.
Michael “Imaqtpie� Santana, a retired LoL player, now makes a living off of streaming
Players can start their own broadcasts, accept donations, and chat with viewers.
Opportunities cont.
The majority of players are ages 16 - 26 (split between Gen Z and Millennials). This is the largest segment of the population. Video games aren’t new, but esports is. Since this sport is new and undefined, it can be molded into anything. As competition becomes increasingly international, investment of time and money into esports becomes much more prominent. People love cheering on their country no matter what competition is represented.
Who are we talking to? We’re talking to an audience that knows esports exists. Despite a lack of knowledge and understanding, they can be transformed into a passionate fan with a little help. We’re also talking to an audience that has been a passionate fan for years, and has been heavily involved in online competition. Everyone can enjoy esports in their own way. They can be couch potatoes or all out competitors. It can be a break from the stresses of life or a path to becoming one of the world’s best gamers.
What do they currently think?
Many perceive that playing video games carries the burden of a negative association. They don’t do anything else other than sit on the couch and play video games. Those who don’t participate in esports feel it’s an isolated experience, where interactions with others seem extremely limited.
Single Most Compelling Idea League of Legends is the most player focused game in the world.
Why will they believe this? Player-focused gaming is the reason Riot was founded—and why it continues to thrive. Riot constantly takes feedback from the fans through the open Beta platform where volunteers get access to the game in its developing stages, so that they can give feedback. Riot instills a gaming culture into its workplace. Everyone is expected to play—to speak the same language as colleagues and consumers. They listen to consumers because they are consumers. Riot understands their passion and enthusiasm for the game because they feel the same way.
How are we going to reach our target audience? Riot interacts with their players on the regular through social media, blogs, and forums. Because many millennials work for Riot they are a part of the millennial community that is partaking in the discussion and avidly adhering to the audience.
YouTube ads that play before video game related videos would be a good place to start. Anyone that is choosing to view video game related material would be someone that might consider playing the game.
Once we reach them how will we maintain dialogue? The game is constantly being updated in correlation to the user’s likes and dislikes. Because it is such a massive game many people are vocal about what they do and do not like. This allows for the company of Riot to listen to their players and ensure that their happiness is an ongoing process.
Executions
VR is on the rise right now. Being able to sit in your house and experience games and events has drawn attention to a lot of people. We want to take this concept one step further and allow for people to watch esports events from a first person view all while maintaining the comfort of their living room. Because esport events are typically around the world, many fans can’t make the trip out to the live events. A 360 camera could solve this problem and allow esports to make money by selling virtual tickets to fans around the world.
Where do we go from here? From what we have collected we have concluded that the esports market has the opportunity to grow exponentially. Our goals are to help establish it outside of the esports community. Once we have that connection with new members of the esports community, we want to maintain the relationship by continuing to listen to the feedback from the fans and adhering to their needs. League of Legends prides itself on being the most player focused game in the world. Hearing new perspectives from fresh fans would help grow the game past the initial reach of the hardcore gamer.
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