Page 19 - Toy & Hobbly Retailer Magazine August-October 2019

“eSports is very contingent on reliable network infrastructure. It doesn’t require a huge amount of data throughput, but it does require lower ping rates.
“So the internet infrastructure needs to be reliable and capable of transmitting information at high speeds rather than large volumes.”
Australia’s geographic isolation from major eSports regions like North America, Europe and Asia makes this connection increasingly important,” he says.
“The great distance between us and major eSports regions creates high latency or ‘lag’, putting Australians at a disadvantage when playing fast-paced eSports titles internationally,” Cumming says.
“Traditionally, this distance has also deterred large international eSports organisations from entering the Australian eSports market, leading to fewer local tournaments and opportunities for Australian fans and competitors to engage and train. Fortunately, we’re starting to see progress, but there’s still a way to go.”
WHO’S WATCHING?
The eSports audience is intertwined with broader video game culture. Considering 68 per cent of Australians play videogames in an industry estimated at over AU$2.43 billion, this means enormous potential for eSports to grow in Australia.
“A lot of people watch eSports to learn new strategies, to learn new skills, to learn to play the game better,” lead researcher on the report, Associate Professor Martin Gibbs says.
“They want to see someone who plays very artfully, like watching a fantastic soccer player.”
This is the ‘player’ – one of three categories of eSports spectator identified by the researchers and outlined in their latest research publication.
The team also identified ‘fans’, who are similar to a traditional sports fan because they follow a specific team, and ‘recruits’, who are usually gamers but don’t play the same games used in eSports tournaments and mostly watch notable tournaments, like world championships.
But watching eSports is a more interactive experience than traditional sports viewing and there are some points of difference.
“It’s a spectacle, it’s watching people compete but in a different way,” Dr Gibbs says.
“At a traditional sports event you can see the entire field of play, but in eSports you are often limited to the players’ points-of view. It can be difficult to get an overall view of the game.
“This makes it necessary for an eSports game to be curated, to have verbal commentators and live video editing. Meanwhile, other spectators can be commenting and discussing the action in chat channels. It’s a different form of engagement from the audience,” Dr Gibbs says.
The research report on eSports spectatorship in Australia reveals an audience that is international, young, and engaged. They are also keen to see the eSports industry within Australia grow.
“We found many people were going to the big eSports events mainly to support the eSports industry in Australia. We even met people who flew from Perth to Melbourne just to attend because they thought it really important,” Dr Gibbs says.
“For some people it’s an important part of their identity as a gamer and participating in gamer culture by engaging and understanding various
eSports that are popular or being widely played even if they do not play the game themselves.”
TIME TO LEVEL UP OUR GAME
Cumming says professionally, eSports is starting to become more like traditional sports both in terms of organisational structure and production.
“We’re seeing what is often dubbed as ‘sportification.’
“eSports tournaments are being constructed as a media spectacle, borrowing conventions from televised sports, game shows and live concerts. We’re also seeing the rise of city-based leagues like Australia’s Gfinity Elite Series, generating local fandom.”
Australians are already involved with eSports as viewers, fans and competitors but if we want to join the big leagues, greater investment is needed.
“Faster, more reliable internet will allow
our eSports players to become elite athletes without having to relocate. Amateur leagues around the nation could be set up that feed into international competition,” Dr Fordyce says.
And that change starts at home.
“Stadium events are great, but the vast amount of eSports spectating occurs at home on computers and other portable devices,” Dr Gibbs adds.
“It’s time to improve their connection.” ❉
This article was first published on Pursuit in September 2018. Read the original article: pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/how-do-we- grow-australia-s-esports-industry.
AUGUST / SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2019 TOY & HOBBY RETAILER 19