ESports, Here to Stay! Like it or Not!
Photographer: Helena-Kristiansson
46 Million people! No that’s not talking about the Super Bowl, which was 111 million. 46 Million people watched the 2017 Intel Extreme Masters World Championship in Katowice, Poland.
It’s funny to think that millions of people would tune in to watch someone else play video games. The event in Katowice featured Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. Both of these games are in the top 20 most watched games on the popular streaming platform Twitch.tv. For someone who has followed eSports casually for the past 4 years, this growth seems obvious and unquestionable.
It seems strange to doubt that the popularity would grow. ESports are definitely catered to millennials because we grew up with consoles like the N64, PS2, and the original Xbox.
ESports isn’t foreign to us. For us, it’s the same as going over to your friends house to play Super Smash Brothers or have a LAN party. Millennials are predicted to have the biggest impact on the labor market since the Baby Boomers. If our impact is going to be felt on the labor market why wouldn’t our hobbies have the same impact on viewership?
When people, usually of older generations, question this logic, it drives me crazy! Things CHANGE! Accept it! I know it’s scary because you don’t understand it like we millennials do, but it’s here to stay. Like it or not!
On the business side, big companies like Starbucks, Samsung, Apple, and Adidas if you don’t capitalize on this now you will regret it later!
Coca Cola is smart they sponsored a League of Legends tournament last year. Intel, nice job with Extreme Masters! I see lots of opportunity if companies can develop a presence in eSports.
Just like every college football bowl game has a sponsorship, in the next 10 years so will every major eSports event.
