Featured image: Microsoft Copilot
Esports stands out in the media and entertainment industry as one of the fast-growing spectacles, and has data and analytics core to its being. With developers, publishers, teams, tournaments, brands and advertisers coming together to boost this world, we have seen esports take on being a global sensation, having athletes now entering celebrity status and generating over a billion dollars in revenue. Data and analytics are preparing a future in this sector, and here are the following ways they are doing so:
- Investors and sponsors: Since esports is still quite a bit new in the media and entertainment industry, it has to prove its sustainability as a long-term investment. In the past decade, esports has shown remarkable growth with projections in the media rights and sponsorships looking forward to making more investments (and with expected increase) in the years ahead. The recurring topic however is on the return on investments (ROI), seeing that esports is still a young industry and making these investments are decisions investors and sponsors are critical about as they put their money in esports. Where metrics on the esports ecosystem are made available (eg. escharts.com), information can be extended with forecasts, and the more accessible data spanning across different titles and tournaments, the better chance esports has at growing uninterruptibly.
- Events and tournaments: Finding the right insights for viewers of esports to know which teams or players to look out for, and the key metric contributing to previous game statuses in a series go a long way to establishing narratives. Pairing the right databases and APIs (application program interfaces — softwares with a distinct function) with user-friendly dashboards can help viewers understand the key performances and the deciding factors of gameplay from their screens. Creating good visualizations can help shoutcasters explain to audiences certain concepts and intricacies they may not be familiar with while establishing narratives.
Photo Credit: Microsoft Copilot
- Developers behind the scenes: Esports titles are periodically updated by developers to ensure consistent entertainment and fair play amongst players. Some developers rely on data from online gameplay, pro-level esports league and tournaments to balance their games. In the case of cheating and hacking, there is a compromise in the reputation of a game title which tends to make its data unreliable. Successful titles attract more players, and because of this tracking and monitoring becomes a herculean task for humans as there may be thousands of multiplayer matches happening at the same time. Developers then have to resort to using AI and machine learning to detect and catch cheaters. Riot Games employs this strategy using their Vanguard anti-cheat system and Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) technology, with the hopes of eventually eliminating human intervention as there will be more data provided.
- Competition beyond tournaments: Esports organizations lately plan on implementing the use of data permanently, an example being the CEO of Evil Geniuses, Lapointe Jameson. She pointed out in an interview that they planned to find the right talent for teams using analysts and engineers to track in-game metrics, bioinformatics (which include DNA, RNA, genomic and metabolic data, etc.) and experimental data. She also mentioned in addition to talent identification the use of data collection. She highlighted its assistance in coaching to help free up time and possibly even replace the traditional strategy and analysis books using live feeds in the future.
Conclusion
Understanding how AI and analytics are transforming the esports industry will not make informed consumers, but will also help businesses update their investment decisions and budget allocation into areas on advertising, travel, marketing, etc. Data and analytics can prove to be the game changer in esports that can unlock its true potential, from consumers to investors.
Esports has helped create jobs for lots of people. Interested in knowing about the business side of esports? Listen to the Gamers Change Lives Podcast! We get experienced guests from all around the world featuring.
Written by Jeffrey Osei-Agyeman
