eSports: A new lucrative ludic economy?

Ashok Ranchhod; Vanissa Wanick; University of Southampton, Winchester School of Art

Cultures through millennia have always embraced games and competitive sports, which became more organised as spectator sports by the Greeks around 776b.c.. Spectator enjoyment became more pervasive in the last two centuries.

Technology has enabled millions and billions of people to watch spectacles, such as the world cup and the Olympics in the comfort of their homes or large televisions in town squares placed throughout the globe.

With the rise of video games as a cultural form, eSports emerged as a new way to understand the spectator’s and the player’s role in the ludic system. In other words, eSports are a new social practice (Hutchins, 2008). For the players, it is a way to be seen, showing to the public their performance while playing games. For the audience, it is a way to get excited by the player’s performance.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/aug/30/video-games-spectator-sport

The spectator’s role goes beyond excitement. Audiences are transformed into various communities of fans. E-sports fans cannot be predicted, as they can be fans of specific genres, players or teams (Taylor, 2012) This new category of video gaming goes beyond playing the game to get a high score.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zygq2hv

The exchange of excitement and enjoyment between audience and players make eSports as a the “global phenomenon” in business involving video games (Charles Arthur and Keith Stuart, 2014).

Sports attract money, larger than life personalities, advertising, gambling, corruption and gambling. In the UK and Europe and in many parts of the world large audiences are drawn to football with players earning millions of dollars. In the USA the NFL league attracts millions and the players are paid millions of dollars.

1- What are the economic features enhanced by eSports? 2- What video games bring to this market and for the audience? 3- What is the interface of eSports?

Top players can win up to $10m and the whole world of eSports is highly competitive attracting skilful players who could have a worldwide audience of millions. At the same time we have large stadia with audience who can watch the war games being played on large screens.

The future is here and soon these sports will be as important as Olympic sports. Technology bring the experience to the extreme through 3D, holographic content and the Internet of Things.

References• Arthur, C.; Stuart, K. (2014) How video gaming turned into

the world's newest spectator sport. <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/aug/30/video-games-spectator-sport>. Retrieved in: 18 May. 2015.

• Hutchins, B. (2008). Signs of meta-change in second modernity: the growth of e-sport and the World Cyber Games. New Media & Society, 10(6), 851-869.

• Taylor, T. L. (2012). Raising the Stakes: E-sports and the Professionalization of Computer Gaming. Mit Press.

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zygq2hv