Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has in many ways changed our lives. Where some industries suffered tremendously under the numerous lockdowns and changes, what about the esports industry? How did COVID-19 affect the industry as a whole and what are the repercussions?
All eyes on us
Let’s start out with some good news first, as studies have shown that more and more people have started watching esports in the past year, widening the audience of people that enjoy esports content as a whole. A study by PwC has shown that more than half of the people under 35 years old are open to watching gaming and esports content.
Engagement between people and videogames and/or esports has also increased, with more people gaming to pass the time or to fill a social void. Lots of gaming companies have posted tremendous growth or record-breaking figures when it comes to online users and revenue, leading to more available resources. A lot of esports tournaments and livestreams have been attracting record-breaking viewership as well, further underlining the growth of the industry as a whole and showing that more and more people are watching esports as a form of entertainment.
Missing LAN
Even though more people have been watching esports and passing their time gaming as of late, the COVID-19 pandemic also brought on some problems for the esports industry. A lot of the bigger events are (or were) played on LAN, something that was no longer possible to ensure the safety of teams, players, staff and more. A lot of fans and players have been missing the live atmosphere of these events.
This change also meant that competitions and leagues that were played on LAN were moved to online, which in itself brought forth quite a bit of issues. Production for these shows and streams had to be rearranged and/or reimagined to make an online show possible. This meant casters often called in from home, players had to play out of team houses or their own homes, with internet and connection issues being an obvious problem.
Going beyond
Some events have gotten creative when it comes to their competitions and tournaments. The most prominent example in the past year was Riot Games, who set up a huge bubble system which allowed them to organize the League of Legends World Championship of 2020 on LAN. Their other competitions haven’t been so lucky, with the LEC, LCK and LCS still played online. It’s currently still unclear when they’ll be moving over to LAN again, but the LPL was already able to make the switch.
Still, the amount of competitions and tournaments that have been affected by the pandemic is huge. A lot of events either got postponed or cancelled, some of them being huge names that a lot of fans and players have looked forward to for months. Some examples are EVO 2020 and ESL One Birmingham, with the latter being converted in seperate online leagues based on regions. There are numerous other examples of tournaments being pushed completely online, such is the case with the BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020, for example.
Other side of the coin
The COVID-19 pandemic offered up quite a few financial problems to solve for a lot of tournament organizers and teams as well. With a lot of the events being cancelled and sponsorship deals falling through, teams often had to look at other opportunities to stay afloat with salary costs being one of the most glaring problems. This resulted in a lot of people being let go. Some examples are the layoffs at OverActive Media (MAD Lions) or Reciprocity, while other teams tried to find a solution by (temporarily) lowering player wages in a mutual agreement with the players themselves.
That doesn’t mean all teams are equally affected. One of the examples of teams that are investing heavily despite the current pandemic is Cloud9. They contracted a big name in the form of Luka “Perkz” Perkovic for a record-breaking amount and built an entirely new CS:GO roster from the ground up, made up contracts that featured dazzling numbers. Likewise, TSM offered Suning support SwordArt a 6 million dollar deal.
Looking ahead
It’ll be interesting to see how the landscape continues to evolve as the pandemic does. When will we be able to go see our favourite teams compete at LAN again and does the influx of new viewers and fans have a lasting impact on the industry? Let’s hope we get answers to those questions soon.
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