Despite a tough year widely recognized for its challenges, esports industry leaders are proceeding into the new year with care and positivity.
Even though the past year has presented financial hurdles, competitive gaming remains standing. The interested audience for watching top-level video game play remains, as long as people engage in playing video games, and esports companies still consider there to be profitability in this niche. Esports competitions like “Rocket League” made record-breaking history with their viewership in 2023, and industry officials remain confident in the potential of competitive gaming.
Regardless of their optimism, esports firms once again find themselves tasked with reaffirming the worth of their entertainment offerings following years of growth and investment without scrutiny. Here is an examination of the most positive potential outcome for competitive gaming in 2024.
‘Valorant’ has captured attention
“Valorant,” a tactical first-person shooter game from Riot Games, experienced the strongest growth in the esports field in 2023. Its swift, intense gameplay coupled with a unique, brand-friendly aesthetic and storyline allowed “Valorant” to accelerate quickly in the past year, recording an increase in viewership and acquiring non-traditional sponsors like Mastercard and Red Bull.
In 2024, both esports organizations and potential sponsors are closely monitoring the global “Valorant” league to assess whether the company can successfully turn esports into a profitable amusement offering. Entities like Misfits, who overtly rebranded to shift away from esports in 2023, are still keeping an eye on Riot’s rapidly growing game.
“Looking at the positive side, ‘Valorant’ is establishing an ecosystem that aligns incentives correctly,” stated Misfits CEO Ben Spoont. “You’d expect to see more of that in 2024.”
In-game items revenue shares hint towards future
In 2023, esports game developers such as Riot Games communicated their plans about increasing income-sharing opportunities for the teams participating within their ecosystems. Now, teams are keen to see the fulfillment of these promises in 2024.
A particularly profitable revenue sharing approach for esports companies has proven to be in-game items purchases. Teams have pocketed millions through branded skin sales in games like “Valorant” and “League of Legends”. However, such opportunities have been primarily available to championship-winning organizations previously, rather than being a universal income stream for all teams.
“The correct sales model is certainly in-game items,” stated the CEO of esports organization NRG, Andy Miller. “We don’t have a stadium to sell tickets, so we need to make profits from in-game items. They are a massive revenue source for us, even though the publisher also earns money from them.”
Brands continue to seek easily accessible ways into the competitive gaming community, and the fighting game community is becoming increasingly appealing as 2024 progresses. The community embraces brand involvement: for instance, Chipotle became partners with the annual Evolution Championship Series in 2023, and in return, the in-person crowd was chanting the name of the brand by the end of the event.
Major esports game developers have taken notice of the passion generated by the FGC. Riot Games is currently developing its own fighting game, “Project L,” and intends to reveal more about the game’s esports events in 2024.
“We’re organizing our plans for Project L, our new fighting game under development,” said John Needham, Riot president of esports. “We’re not ready to announce specifics, but we aim to create a sport that makes FGC feel proud.”
Saudi Arabian involvement is unavoidable — and some welcome it
Following the acquisition of ESL/FACEIT Group in 2022, more and more of the world’s most-loved esports are slowly falling under the control of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. This includes administration of leagues as well as support for high-profile international tournaments such as Gamers8. In 2024, Saudi Arabia will be holding a self-proclaimed Esports World Cup. This surge of Saudi funding is likely to offer a financial boost to the larger esports industry, regardless of potential ethical dilemmas.
“Like or not, the Esports World Cup will be significantly important to esports due to the substantial investment made to put on a world show,” said Miller. “Nobody else is doing that, so everyone will be participating in it.”