eSports To Pivot Into Online Only Events

An opportunity to deliver a new level of engagement in eSports competitive events presents itself in today's remote live, work and play social environment.

Almost every single major professional sports league across the globe is on indefinite hiatus due to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. There’s no NBA, no Champions League, no Olympic Games. But an unlikely option has started to fill that void for viewers: competitive video games.

Over the past few weeks, almost every major esports league in the world — including the CDL, Overwatch League, ESL Pro League, Flashpoint, and multiple League of Legends competitions — has shifted to an online format. Typically, these games are played offline in a studio or arena environment. Players take the stage, fans go wild, and casters keep up the energy with infectious commentary. While there are still challenges inherent to bringing eSports totally online, the industry is far better positioned to do so than just about any other sport, so it may be the best way to scratch that competitive itch for the time being.

For the uninitiated: competitive video gaming has been a major spectacle among fans for years. It’s no Super Bowl, but some games and championships can fill stadiums. There are huge pots of prize money for professional teams, the celebrities of the eSports ecosystem. Commentators keep the crowd riled while tightly-controlled tournaments happen on-stage.

Remember playing Halo with your siblings? How they’d peek at your corner of the split-screen display and know exactly where to go to kill you? Well, that’s actually a problem for competitive gamers too — unscrupulous players could tune in to livestreams and get an advantage.

That’s why there are still challenges to sort out, The Verge reports, like broadcasting tournaments at a delay to make sure players can’t watch. But compared to organizing a physical sport, eSports still has an advantage for continuing in quarantine.

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