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The video gaming stereotype: A teenager holed up behind a screen for (unproductive) hours on end, addicted to a virtual world.
The reality: People (many under the age of 20) playing intensely complicated games of strategy and making more money than some of the world’s top tennis players and golfers.
Competitive video gaming tournaments are redefining sport as we know it.
In Asia, top eSports players are major celebrities and gaming is a full-time job. In China, eSports is recognised by the General Administration of Sport, and players reside in gaming houses that are dedicated to training them. They have the best coaches, hand-eye co-ordination specialists, psychologists and agents at their disposal – not unlike other top professional athletes.
South Korea has its own dedicated eSports stadiums, and in this country, like China, eSports players are akin to the Usain Bolts and Cristiano Ronaldos of the world. They attract audiences of millions and swim in massive prize pools.
But, is eSports a real sport? After all, how much skill does it require playing a game like Dota 2 (Defense of the Ancients) or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO), for example? No physicality is involved, and anyone can play a computer game. True. But physicality is not the only criterion for being a sportsperson. And not anyone can win $1m for playing a computer game.
Players describe Dota 2 as a combination of football and chess. Gaming skill is rooted in logic, mathematical skills, strategising and intense focus and concentration (games run for hours at a time).
In 2011, the eSports world was abuzz when Dota developer Valve Corporation said it would host The International – a Dota 2 competition. The announcement of a prize pool of $1.6m took the eSports scene by storm. The winning team would walk away with $1m.
The International has been held annually since then.
The latest International, which took place in August, had a prize pool of more than $20m, according to Valve’s site. The winning team from China, Wings Gaming, walked away with $9.1m, while the runner-up, the US’s DC, left with $3.4m.
As a comparison, this year’s prize money for Wimbledon was £2m (or about $2.5m) for the men and ladies’ singles winners and £1m each for the runners-up. Even if the International winnings were spread across a team of five, each player would walk away with more prize money than the individual winners of Wimbledon.
“These prize pools I believe not only help increase the legitimacy of eSports and fuel the aspirations of players across the world, but just the size of these prize pools helps bring them into the mainstream media conversation. I might not be able to interest the man on the street with a conversation on Dota or Counter-Strike, but I’m sure I can get his attention mentioning a $20m prize pool,” says Gareth Woods, eSports ambassador and director of eSports marketing specialists Good Game Well Played.
In 2013, Forbes reported the US recognised gamers as professional athletes, allowing them to enjoy the same visa and travelling privileges that other competitive athletes do when competing internationally.
The rise of eSports in SA
Telkom has been involved with gaming in South Africa for more than a decade and was the first to host online gaming servers locally, explains Jon Parsons, editorial manager at Telkom Gaming. The company also started the Digital Gaming League (DGL), South Africa’s largest online computer and console gaming competition, which currently hosts more than 10 000 players.
“We realise that gaming is a R2bn industry in South Africa, with more than 4m gamers competing across all major platforms. More specifically, eSports is a worldwide phenomenon that could one day overshadow traditional sports (if it hasn’t already), which is why we established the DGL: to develop the local eSports scene and bring in new gamers through casual gaming competitions, improved spectator access and increased awareness – much like traditional sporting systems,” says Parsons.
At the beginning of 2016 the Telkom DGL announced its 2016 DGL Masters tournament, which boasted a R1m cash prize pool – the largest prize pool in the history of South African eSports.
Another eSports heavyweight that has been around since 2002 is the annual rAge expo, which is owned, managed and run by NAG, a gaming and tech platform. rAge has seen between 8% and 12% yearly growth in terms of exhibitor and visitor numbers and sponsorships since it launched, says Michael James, publisher for NAG, IGN Africa and senior project manager for rAge.
James describes rAge as a traditional expo exploding with unique content. “It’s sort of a combination of ‘geek culture’, which includes the latest releases in video games and tech; comic books, science-fiction, an Artists' Alley and cosplay stage area, as well as local coders introducing their own games for the first time.”
The latest expo, with 124 exhibitors, was held in October in Johannesburg and saw 34 693 visitors over the three days. This year over R2.2m in cash and prizes was also given away at the four eSports events.
“eSports was massive at this year’s expo with major tournaments being played, international shoutcasters [eSports commentators] and hosts in attendance, and the introduction of Africa’s first-ever eSports Branding Summit. This is the start of something big in South Africa,” says Lauren Das Neves, marketing manager of rAge.
The eSports community in SA is very real, and growing. Is this the right time to take eSports to a wider audience?
Sam Wright, founder and editor of Tech Girl, says while there is definitely a wide audience for eSports in SA, the problem has been reaching the audience outside the eSports scene. In SA, supportive marketing, public relations and promoting players professionally is still a problem. Many players have full-time jobs, which does not allow much time to build up their gaming profile.
Sponsorships, should teams be lucky enough to have them, do not necessarily cover (neither are they aimed at) boosting public relations. This means that, in SA, the profile of professional gaming is not as high outside the eSports community as it could be.
This is beginning to change. Wright says that the Telkom DGL had a lot to do with this when it launched and opened up the eSports world to a wider public.
“2016 has been a good year, and foundations have been laid. There is room for expansion going forward,” she says.
James agrees and says Telkom has worked to put eSports in the spotlight and that any reputable, sustainable investment in eSports should be supported.
It’s this passion to grow eSports and provide local players with opportunities that led Evetech – one of the leading gaming tech suppliers – to invest close to R1m in building a professional facility dedicated to all things eSports at the Evetech head office in Centurion. Evetech hosted its first event, the Evetech Champions League (ECL), here in September. Teams competed in CS: GO. The prize pool was R150 000 – the highest CS: GO payout in SA to date.
“eSports is the future [of sport],” says Imran Sorathia, managing director of Evetech. In this vein, “like any other sports you’re watching on TV, we want to bring eSports to local TV”. In order to achieve this, Sorathia explains that what is being broadcast must measure up to international standards.
“We are going to host a lot of competitions here. We’re planning at least four per year – the ECL being the first we have hosted.” The Evetech venue is ready, and available to the eSports community to host media events, game launches and all other eSports events. Sorathia believes that SA is ready to embrace the expansion of eSports, and is confident that broader-based coverage and commitment to the scene will rapidly grow it.
Getting in on the game
Theuns Louw, CEO of Aperture Gaming, believes that events brought to the gaming world by the likes of Telkom and Evetech will only grow bigger. “I believe we are in the grafting stage and nearing the point where serious investors are paying attention to an undeniable business opportunity.”
But Telkom and Evetech’s investments into growing eSports in SA make sense – both companies stand to gain directly because of their product offerings: Telkom’s fibre, and Evetech’s equipment.
Does it make sense for companies that are not tech, or entertainment based to get involved?
“In a world where the average number of hours watched in TV has declined dramatically, where circulation of print is in decline, the next best place to advertise your products to a highly connected early adopting community is to advertise into the eSports community either via teams or hosting events, ” says Louw.
Perhaps the most appetising for potential sponsors is the reach and consumption levels of eSports fans, believes Woods.
“The majority of eSports viewers are in the 16- to 26-year-old age group – typically referred to as millennials and, as advertisers will attest to, this group does not consume traditional media – they don’t watch your TV commercials, they don’t listen to radio and they certainly don’t see your print ads – their average TV consumption is 15 minutes per day, but their average online media consumption is over an hour.”
eSports provides companies whose products may not be directly linked with eSports with a channel to connect directly with millions of these millennials.
Parsons reiterates the unlimited marketing potential offered by the massive online viewership for eSports: “The 2015 League of Legends World Championships, for example, recorded 334m unique viewers over the duration of the tournament. This is an average of 4.2m concurrent viewers at any time.”
Wright points out that the expense that comes with gaming – especially if a team is not sponsored – is immense. For this reason, and based on SA’s demographics, eSports tends to be more prevalent among higher LSMs. “The market is niche, but loyal,” Wright says. She believes companies and corporates that get involved to promote the eSports scene will be able to tap into this well-off market.
But it is important that any potential sponsor looking to get involved does so in the right way, and does not simply “throw money at it”, emphasises James – they need to be educated about the industry. This means conducting proper research, talking to people in the industry who have experience with and an understanding of the eSports world. “There are lots of fly-by-nights that come and go from tournament to tournament, but they don’t really get the culture.”
Over and above the emphasis on education, which James believes is essential to the future growth of eSports, he feels that potential sponsors really need to get involved with players. One way that this can be done is by getting in on the ground level and investing in an eSports team – right now the buy-in would be quite cheap.
Parsons agrees and believes that although certain corporate companies may not see the direct link they could have with eSports, there are many avenues to get involved – for example through Telkom or the DGL, or by throwing their weight behind one of the local teams.
“South Africa is fortunate enough to have a pool of incredibly talented and dedicated players to pick from. They just need a little help to climb up onto the international stage and compete.”
South Africa still has a lot to get done in order to elevate eSports to the masses, as it were, but judging by the passion and commitment of the industry, this could very well soon become a reality.
Says Woods: “I’ve been in the gaming scene for a few years and the growth we’ve seen over just the past year has been meteoric. I think the outlook for eSports in SA is very promising and I believe we are only just at the tip of the iceberg – the real growth is about to come.”
It seems that it will pay off to get behind SA’s scene now. After all, nobody likes to lose.
This is a shortened version of an article that originally appeared in the 24 November edition of finweek. Buy and download the magazine here.
