Esports vs. COVID19
Is this the perfect timing for the esports industry to become more mainstream?
Will the memes shift from toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and elbow bumps to content about gamers and the overall potential of esports? Will the coronavirus serve as an opportunity for gamers to become healthier and more social, or will social distancing make it easier for gamers to isolate and become unhealthy both mentally and physically?
In-person events and leagues will definitely continue to be affected. However, online tournaments, online leagues, and content creation may skyrocket because of this global set of circumstances. The number of views on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and Netflix will increase, and so will the amount of content created for those platforms. The supply of content being generated by small and large brands will expand, but will it be because of the demand or because of the availability of creators? Well, actually both.
Gaming for 13-35 year-olds is already the target marketing for publishers, and now more than ever we will see trends of increased consumption. Extended spring breaks alone for high school and college students will contribute to a quick explosion of gaming and esports. Video game publishers may see a Christmas time like spike of game sales, DLC content, and in-game purchases. So many students are already home playing Fortnite or the new COD: Warzone during spring break, and with more adults working from home, sales will just keep going up. Just think about how many more battle passes are being sold right now.
Leagues that have built a product to allow students to play at home will thrive. Being able to play outside of the required in-person group settings at schools or LAN centers is a must-have right now. Only a few leagues were prepared to handle this. Many online leagues have been postponed too or shifted their focus to accommodate schools shutting down. The North America Scholastic Esports Federation(NASEF) has moved its focus from competition to the community, by ensuring that students and families can engage in safe and meaningful ways through philanthropy and programming. Electronic Gaming Federation(EGF) temporarily suspended league play for at least one week to evaluate strategies.
Resilience
One online league that rolled out new updates to its platform in coincidental perfect timing will continue to play through this global economic struggle. The High School Esports League(HSEL) recently announced their new queue system. This created a huge opportunity for gamers and teams in high schools. After having 80,000 participants use their platform over the last seven years, they wanted to help the ever-growing issue for all online leagues that struggle with forfeits. Queue systems are standard in traditional online gaming, however, online leagues have typically used scheduling to complete the season. Much like scheduling a football season for school, yet the emphasis on getting on the bus and driving to a scheduled football game is not the same for high school esports. The issues with scheduling has been the overwhelming number of teams not being able to play due to students out of school, communication between teams, or students participating in other activities.
The most positive thing about their queueing system is that teams will “ready up” for an opponent and play them right then. So, if 100 teams are in the queue for Rainbow Six Seige (which is the most played game of all competitive high school clubs), then there will then be 50 games in total played. No more need to communicate with a specific school and potentially never hear back from them. You just play with who is available. This is huge for the online high school esports community. HSEL is once again leading the way in the scholastic esports industry. Their platform will soon expand beyond the high school space. Stay informed.
HSEL also had prepared to have two weeks of makeup matches before issues arose with COVID-19, plus they allow students to play at home too. Most teams already have a teacher sitting at their school online at the same time the student plays from home after school. This way the teacher/sponsor/coach is able to monitor their players as well as provide assistance or guidance. They also extended registration to accommodate teams getting all their players committed while being in a communication hiatus at schools.
The LA Business Journal writes, "The gaming industry stands to be one of the few sectors that could benefit from the coronavirus pandemic despite losses triggered by disrupted conferences and esports tournaments, industry observers say."
“Gamers around the world are looking for more content and more things to do. We’re uniquely positioned to be able to deliver on that,” said Steve Arhancet, co-chief executive and co-owner of Team Liquid.
“There are esports matches almost every day that are being played from home and then broadcasted and consumed from homes,” he said. “You can play a game from a remote location. You can’t do that in football or basketball.”
Beyond content consumption, analysts anticipate an increase in at-home gaming across PC, mobile, and console games, which will drive up spending on games.
New Leagues
New leagues and tournaments will increase as well. We just spoke with a national adult recreational brand with 1.6 million traditional sports participants that said their clubs are hurting for income through all of the closures of gyms and fields and processing of refunds. They see the power of online organized play now more than ever. Many traditional rec leagues across the country have been doing in-person gaming events, but not many have been doing online gaming.
With esports poised to grow during this crisis, our foundation is still here to stay proactive in Digital Citizenship. There is already a long-standing stigma surrounding gamers when it comes to isolation and health concerns. Social interaction may be stronger coming out of this crisis. Look to our partners in health and wellness to support your students during this time of potential isolation.
