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eSPORTING HEROES
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Insight
The world of eSports is growing at an astonishing rate,
along with the financial benefits and celebrity status afforded
to its stars. eSports, simply, is the competitive playing of
video games from a variety of genres including strategy,
shooting, fighting and racing. eSports has given rise to
competitive playing at amateur levels, all the way through
to professional levels. Top players can earn very healthy
livings, along with celebrity status, while even amateur
players can earn significant sums of money if they perform
well in competition.
The industry is growing at such a rate thanks to a number
of factors. The size of the video games market is huge, and
still growing. It is now the largest purchased entertainment
market and notably more valuable than the film industry.
As such, it is attracting some of the biggest names from
other areas of the entertainment industry. The number of
games released which lend themselves to being played
competitively, and the sheer number of players playing them,
is ever increasing. And it is these players that are attracting
investment and advertising money for eSports.
Video games players can no longer be pigeon-holed
as children and young men as they once were. In fact, a
survey by the Entertainment Software Association in the US
indicated that the average gamer is 37 years old and has
been playing for 12 years and eighty-two percent of gamers
are 18 years of age or older. However, eSports is largely
represented by the traditional market of young males, a
market that is traditionally hard to reach by marketers. This
CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS ARE OFTEN LAMBASTED BY THEIR PARENTS FOR SPENDING TOO
MUCH TIME PLAYING VIDEO GAMES. PERHAPS PARENTS MAY HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT
THIS WHEN THEY LEARN THAT TALENTED GAMERS NOW HAVE OPPORTUNITIES PRESENTED TO
THEM THAT RIVAL THOSE OF ‘TRADITIONAL’ SPORTING STARS.
TV STARS: A televised match of StarCraft in South Korea, televised by MBCGame.
Photo by Kai Hendry