Over the past few years, esports has really come into its own as a mainstream form of entertainment for the growing audience that are attracted to the high-octane virtual action – this has become particularly true over the past few years as the library of games with a competitive scene continues to grow and more familiarity is offered to those who typically may not have been attracted to gaming. But as further opportunities present themselves, esports continues to trend across the board – but where is the most success being found?
Mobile esports is starting to take off – Whilst esports has typically been tied to the PC market as the primary platform, mobile esports has been steadily shifting over the past year to grow as many of the bigger titles have found a surge of new users during the lockdown period – there had been suggestions that the growth mobile esports was inevitable but it had been a little slow going, but as it continues to trend upwards it will begin to attract even more players, particularly as the audience continue to grow much wider into different demographics, and as game availability grows too it provides an opportunity for a wider market.
Esports betting is on the up and up too – In a bid to develop more familiarity in the esports market, things like esports betting have seen a huge uptick too, whilst the primary betting markets at esportsbetting.site still remain within the top three games of Counter-Strike, League of Legends, and DotA, newer options in the likes of FIFA and NBA have helped bridge the gap between those more attracted to traditional sporting and those who have made the shift to esports too. There are still concerns around things like match fixing which have been somewhat prevalent in some scenes and will need to be figured out as esports continues to grow.
Opportunities for streaming continue to spread – Perhaps the most impactful thing in esports that has led to its success has been within the opportunities that come from livestreaming – with the big events and professional players able to broadcast for free, it allows a growing audience to be able to tune in where they may have otherwise been able to through the paid services that still are prevalent in traditional sporting – it doesn’t seem as if there’s likely to be a shift anytime soon as both Twitch and YouTube seem to be doubling down on delivering esports content for free, and will continue to be the future for online sports broadcasting for many.