An Open Letter to Esports

Video Games are one of society’s great levellers. . It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from. When you are looking at that screen, it doesn’t matter if you are a player or a spectator. It doesn’t matter if you are at an event or if you are laying on the couch at home watching players doing what they do in a competitive setting. It brings all of us together, irrespective of the societal divisions that we face outside of our beloved domain. We become equals – a part of something bigger, something that we all can mutually be a part of. We all watch the same screens, we all enjoy the same game, and we can all play the same game

Image credit to http://rezzable.com/610-2/

Streaming has become a staple part of the entire gaming community like never before. Gamers take time out of their day to watch other people play video games. If we look back 5 years ago, streaming was in its infancy and not considered ‘popular’.  It is now becoming an integral part of our gaming routines – watching streamers interact with their viewers and the games we love is a new immersive way that we continue to build and develop our communities. It may seem “weird” for an outsider looking in to notice that you watch someone play the game you can play in the next room. But we develop a relationship, a connection with the person on the other side of the screen. We interact with other people though chats and social media. You become a part of that streamers community, as well as a part of the community of that game, which is then a part of the larger gaming community.  

Image taken from twitch.tv/directory on 4/8/16 @ 2023 AEDST

The history of esports is still in its infancy. The humble beginnings of single room LAN tournaments with tiny, but dedicated following to stadium busting events with millions of online viewers is a testament to the change experienced. Every tournament held has potential to create history in some way shape or form. Whether it be viewership, prize money or the quality of the competition viewed the scene continues to develop, evolve and grow. We haven’t seen everything done as of yet. We’ve hardly scratched the surface of what’s possible leading into the future.

Left image credit to http://2015.na.lolesports.com/articles/worlds-rising-look-back-season-1-championship Right Image credit to http://www.spgaming.net/cs1-6-bg-tournament-2005/

Esports is also breaking new ground in gaming history. While there has been a competitive scene for a long long time, the growth it has had in the past 10+ years has been exponential.  It is garnering more attention from mainstream media outlets and becoming more of a regular “thing” to more and more people. Competition continues to improve and grow and developers continue to push the envelope of evolvement of their game. More people are starting to take notice. Discussions about esports are taking place and it is growing in popularity. 

Left Image credit to http://en.esl-one.com/csgo/cologne-2016/ Right image credit tohttp://www.lolesports.com/en_US/worlds/articles/skt-rises-above-koo-tigers-3-1-become-2015-world-champion

The same concept can be applied to the games that we play. When a developer releases a game, there is immediate interest in the potential of that game to be played on a competitive level. That garners enough support that individuals dedicate their time and energy to developing themselves to be the best the possibly can. Eventually, a scene develops. It grows. It becomes something. Players and spectators alike develop a deep appreciation of the complexities of gameplay and strategies that we see play out in front of us. We appreciate the finer details of gameplay that differentiate one players and teams from one another. We talk, discuss, think, enjoy.

It is difficult to build a following/career in streaming and esports, and even more difficult when you want to make a living out of it. The small percentage of people who have successfully done this are reaping the rewards of an economically booming industry. As Streaming and esports grow in popularity, investment is made. This investment has 2 purposes at its core – to help support an individual in their careers at the same time as promoting the goods and services that a particular company or organisation provides. It promotes growth, and growth is good. Growth allows that person to continue to do what they do and make a living. Companies who invest will see a return in that investment because more of that streamer's or esport athlete’s followers buy/use that particular item/service because the people/organisations that they’ve grown to love use those items too. It is a reality of the world we live in today, and gaming and esports are not immune to the business practices of the world. 

Image credit to http://thegg.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/esl-sponsors.jpg

We want nothing more than our scene - our culture - to move beyond stereotypes and barriers and become more successful. We want gaming, streaming and esports to continue into the future. We want this to spill into other events that we can be a part of where we all have the opportunity to express the love we have for the games we play.

Its at this juncture that we, as a community, have to make a choice. We have the opportunity to create our own history. We have the opportunity to make the future we want to see. It is a unique position to be in – an exciting prospect to consider. We don’t want to get to a future where we look at a past that is marred by controversy, abuse of a community for profits and personal gain, and one that undermines the credibility of organisations attempting survival in the realm of professional esports. Above all else though, we don’t want a past that questions the integrity of the competition that brings all of this together. Without that, esports will go down as a short lived endeavour that had little to no long term potential as an industry.

Left Image credit tohttps://theepicautistic.com/2013/09/21/i-get-by-with-a-little-help-from-my-friends/ Right Image credit to http://cphpost.dk/greatercph_events/dreamhack-in-malmo-2016.html  

When you make your next decision about who or what you support, what activities you engage in or your next online interaction, think about the future. Everything that we say or do has some direction – some say –in what our next step as a scene is. It may be nigh on negligible or it may be absolutely earth shattering, but everything we say and do adds up. I want the sum of this equation to be a positive one; I think we all do too.

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Header image courtesy of Senshudo.tv