The rise of the eSports industry in 2019 and beyond

The rise of the eSports industry

By Laura Dominici, eSports – entering centre stage

Who isn’t secretly dreaming of making a living by becoming a professional gamer and thus turning a hobby into a paying job? As eSports are gradually being recognised as a form of professional sport such as football or basketball – amateurs who want to turn pro are finding themselves in an increasingly competitive industry. As the world’s fastest-growing sport, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) even hosted a joint forum with gaming communities to explore opportunities to collaborate and to therefore improve fan engagement for the world’s most prestigious sporting event.

As gaming is quickly becoming one of the most popular forms of entertainment, the latest studies show that the eSports industry will continue to grow significantly, both in terms of revenue and viewership. Platforms such as Twitch, which is the world’s leading live streaming platform for gamers, have seen a steady increase in the number of people who view live gaming streams.

The rise of eSports in Ireland

We can no longer talk about the “eSports phenomenon.” In reality, eSports are now the linchpin of the gaming sector with their professional structure of vast variety of tournaments. Ireland boasts an extremely proud sporting heritage and eSports tops that list. For example, companies like AeonSpark Events, Ireland’s newest Dublin-based gaming event company, is working towards establishing Ireland on Europe’s competitive gaming map.

Further, the well-known Insomnia Gaming Festival, an eSports festival held in Dublin, attracted over 70,000 people in November. The event featured over 80 speakers from across the gaming industry including video game developers and publishers like Blizzard, Vela, Atari, CD Projekt Red, and Digit. In addition to Insomnia, the European Games Festival is coming to Croke Park in Dublin on the 21st-22nd of September 2019. What’s more, other grassroots organisations and gaming festivals are springing up all over Ireland.

Big money in eSports: where does it come from?

Can’t make a career with eSports? This might change your mind: let’s look at those numbers. In 2018, the total amount of prize money amassing from the various eSports leagues and tournaments totalled £114.7 million – that’s a 34.5% increase on the previous year and by the end of 2019, this figure will be even higher.

eSports revenue will hit $1 billion in 2019, according to the market intelligence reports from Newzoo. This revenue is split between team and brand merchandise, sponsorships, advertising via platforms such as Twitch and media channels like ESPN, game publishing fees and media rights.

The biggest eSports tournaments… and the prize money!

The biggest event in the eSports calendar is for the game Dota 2, with the tournament being referred to as “The International.” For the 2019 tournament, the prize money looks set to hit close to the £30 million mark. Most of this money is generated through syphoning 25% from the “battle pass” fee that a vast amount of Dota 2 players buy. Last year, the winner was German KuroKy who won over £3 million, making him the highest earning eSports player (with regards to prize money).

However, giving Dota 2 a run for its money both literally and figuratively speaking, is the Fortnite World Cup which has a prize pool of around £25 million. With the Fortnite World Cup Solos 2019 event finishing on the 28th of July, a new champion was crowned: 16-year-old Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf from the USA who took away a cool £2.5 million in winnings. And it’s not just the first prize winners that take away colossal sums of money. Even if you came 10th place in the Fortnite World Cup you could expect to take home £185k and in The International 2018, those in 9th-12th place cashed in some £317k!

While the London Olympics were intended to inspire younger generations to play sport, studies have since showed that in Ireland, one in three adults doesn’t exercise. eSports however, could certainly have a big future in Ireland!

eSports, industry

About

Laura Dominici

Laura is an editor based in Berlin. Being half French, half German and born in Australia, she has an international background and was able to gather experience as a translator. Currently, she contributes articles on a variety of fields ranging from economy, to lifestyle and technology – her favourite topic.

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