E-Sports Points covered by my lecture: What are e-sports? Brief summary of the history of competitive gaming. E-Sports today. An analysis of the growth of e-sports, and the debate of their validity as an entertainment medium; mainly, do they generate enough revenue from spectators and events? What type of games are most commonly played on a competitive stage and why.

The Competitive play of video games General Definition: The Competitive play of video games however, the term is usually used to describe games that are by nature set up with clear and decisive rules that determine a winner and loser, and have a professional 'scene' Today, games -MUST- be playable over a network connection Often highly 'skill' based These games might seem somewhat straight-forward or simple at first glance, but almost always have incredible depth to their game-play. Few random factors to determine outcome

'Skill' based game-play The use of skill in this case isn't exactly how we would use the word with other sports/competitions Most games that are successful in attracting a large spectator crowd are complex in how they are played by the user, but 'simple' to watch. Game knowledge is just as, if not more, important! Example: League of Legends, Starcraft 2, Street Fighter Games reward/punish high-risk / high-reward plays adds entertainment value for spectators

Competitive games played by amateurs Amateur audiences watch pro-games to learn Commentators/Shout-Casters often spend time explaining in detail why players do certain things. A 'reason' to watch Success of most communities depends on the casual player's willingness to watch! Most games advertise through their game client. Some games 'draft' top tier amateurs.

A History of Nerd Rage Early Arcade Tournaments : Atari: 1980, Nintendo;1990, Blockbuster/GamePro; 1990s Billy Mitchell Netrek – 1986; cross platform open-source. Unix. first online team competitive game still played today Early PC FPS era: doom,quake, later-CounterStrike **irc organization Rts era: Age of Empires 2, Starcraft, Warcraft3 World Cyber Games – 2000, MLG – 2002 South Korea and Europe

Nerd Rage Today Most games organize their player-base themselves rather than relying on third parties, such as IRC – more advertisement Company sponsored/organized tournaments CSL Professional Gamer Teams and Houses Sponsors Popular competitive games today Starcraft2, League of Legends, Dota2, Street Figher4, Halo4, Call of Duty, ect

The pro-gaming scene of today Streaming : twitch-tv / justin-tv tv broadcasts (not successful thus far in America D: ) Barcrafts E-Sports 'Celebrities' : DJ wheat, day[9], totalbiscuit ~10k viewers daily

Recent events and growth League of Legends world championships 8.2 million unique viewers 1.1 million viewers at peak 8k spectators in-house 2 million$ prize pool

MLG Dallas League of legends, Starcraft2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. ~300k viewers Engagement : ~150 minutes **more than the super bowl** 95% completion rate on ads 170k total prize pool

What makes a game a good candidate for competitive play Give players a sense of 'advancement' Replay / Spectator modes 'lol-replay, sc2-replay' A means for regulating game length. Can't be too short or too long. Home-screen designed to allow information and ads to be delivered from the community managers to the player base (not product ads!) Usually follow the rule of 'easy to play, difficult to master' Minimal RNG factor Perfect server-structure -lag is bad- Periodic updates / balancing Clear and definitive win/lose conditions Visual/Audio ques for audience Hiring the right commentators

steel series http://steelseries.com/us/gaming/esports razer http://www.redbull.com/uk/en/stories/1331586144954/razer-gaming-interview-console- esport twitch-tv/justin-tv streaming services http://www.gamespot.com/news/blizzard-mlg-twitchtv-execs-speak-on-rise-of-esports-6405233 http://gosugamers.net/lol/news/21603-official-viewership-of-world-championships-boasts-largest- in-e-sports-history http://www.couchathletics.com/content/344-The-Rising-Viability-of-E-Sports ***** http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/tech/post/_/id/3979/league-of-legends-mimics-regular-sports*** http://www.team-dignitas.org/articles/blogs/Interview/2200/Interview-with-Team-Paradigm-Is- GW2-a-viable-eSport-/