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SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 80 owned and affiliated websites, currently reaching over 75 million monthly visitors. The company’s partial 2018 (first 9 months) revenue of $7.4 million representing a 625% increase over the same period in 2017.

Twitch’s Head of Esports on the Trends Driving Viewer Engagement

• 2018 was a stellar year for Twitch .
• According to Twitchtracker, the streaming service grew its average concurrent viewers by 43% to cross the one million average across the entire year, while streamers chasing the dream of Twitch stardom grew by 70% to 3.4M broadcasters per month.

From Fortnite’s  breakout success and Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevin’s rise to mainstream celebrity status, to Overwatch  driving new styles of interactive engagement with fans – the year was about a lot more than just seeing the statistics continue to climb. It redefined the trends we thought we knew about what streaming is all about and how esports builds its fan dynamics through real-time interactions.

“Battle Royale games are highly competitive and easy to follow. They translate very well to Twitch.”

It also saw a clash of the traditions of team-based esports with the trend of viewers falling in love with Battle Royale as their favorite game genre to watch.

“Battle Royale games are highly competitive and easy to follow. They translate very well to Twitch,” Justin Dellario, head of esports at Twitch, told The Esports Observer. “Twitch viewers thrive on live, shared moments and there is no shortage of that spontaneity in Battle Royale games.

“Best of all, Battle Royale games are simple – fight to be the last one standing – so nobody is left in the dark when they see a best play or big win.”

Dellario joined Twitch in February 2016, and since that time the wider entertainment industry has woken up to the idea that game streaming isn’t a sideshow but an actual competitor to its living room dominance. According to Dellario, the strength of Twitch is its community spirit.

Credit: EA Games

“That’s what today’s young audiences crave: the ability to interact and even influence what they watch. Twitch gives them that opportunity to do so with their fellow fans, their community,” said Dellario.

“People watch Twitch for shared moments, something to enjoy with like-minded people. That’s no different than sports fans gathering at a bar or a friend’s living room to watch a game. How people interact with content and content creators on Twitch builds a live, shared, interactive viewing experience that provides that exact atmosphere from the comfort of wherever you are watching from. That’s what we call multiplayer entertainment – unique, live, unpredictable experiences created by the shared interactions of millions.”

“It’s important to note that while viewer rewards play a part in driving viewership, they also play a part in driving engagement and play time.” 

That blend of interactivity and community is also represented in game developers delivering rewards to viewers, particularly around esports tournaments, as part of using the Twitch platform. And Dellario sees them shifting from a viewer incentive to a community expectation.

“It’s important to note that while viewer rewards play a part in driving viewership, they also play a part in driving engagement and play time,” Dellario said. “They cause players to return to the game to use the rewards, continue to have experiences that keep them tied to the game, and ultimately help drive them back to watching again to complete the loop.

“Developers recognize the need to strengthen this bond with their communities inside and outside of the game.”

One of the deepest integrations between the Twitch fan experience and an esports competition was the launch of the Overwatch League All-Access Pass. For a one-off season subscription price (unique compared to Twitch’s typical monthly subscription system) a viewer gets a special viewing experience with real-time game statistics, options to watch specific player cameras, or combine multiple views to create their own custom viewing experience.

Credit: Blizzard

“We are always looking for ways to enhance the esports broadcast experience for our partners and viewing experience for the fans,” said Dellario. “The Overwatch League All-Access Pass was the result of our work with Blizzard to develop new methods of engagement and learning from the community on how to provide more control in how they watch and experience matches.”

The top personalities on Twitch now single-handedly command audiences just as big, or bigger, than the biggest weekly esports leagues on the platform. So some events are finding new ways to get the best of both worlds through one of the newest trends on Twitch – co-streaming.

“We just saw Ninja gather a large viewing party for Thursday Night Football, bringing the program to people who may not otherwise watch it…”

“Many of our top streamers got successful because they are entertaining commentators of their own gameplay. Therefore, letting an online personality present the content in a way that resonates with their viewer community is a perfect way to find a new audience,” said Dellario.

“Twitch viewers enjoy their content more when they get to enjoy it with commentary from their friends, and especially their favorite personalities. What that creates is a unique viewing experience they can’t get from watching something alone.”

This co-streaming concept is even extending beyond the realm of esports and gaining the attention of traditional sports leagues as well.

“We just saw Ninja gather a large viewing party for Thursday Night Football, bringing the program to people who may not otherwise watch it – cord cutters and cord nevers,” Dellario said.

Credit: Twitch

“That’s, of course, where you might run into challenges. Co-streaming counts on getting the right personalities who can get creative in a way that compliments your content and gets their viewers interested. However, we were able to secure that with the NFL by handpicking which streamers got rights to co-stream Thursday Night Football.”

For Dellario, one of the biggest lessons in his three years at Twitch has been seeing streaming and esports “go hand-in-hand” as commentary, personality, and community make Twitch the preferred place to watch.

With Twitch Rivals, we are further fostering the relationship between esports and streaming.”

“People don’t just turn out for the game. People turn out for personalities in esports, and we have proven that esports help boost personalities through Twitch Rivals,” Dellario said.

“Twitch Rivals is a series of competitions organized by Twitch, which pits our top and growing streamers against each other in varying formats of competition and challenges spanning all types of popular and budding game categories.”

Rivals events use a central broadcast hub as a base for viewers to tune in and catch the big picture coverage, while all participants are streaming their personal point-of-view where their fans – or new fans – can tune in.

“This helps streamers grow their channels while maintaining their traditional programming and broadcast times. With Twitch Rivals, we are further fostering the relationship between esports and streaming,” Dellario said.

Want to hear more about Twitch’s role in the esports industry? Justin Dellario will be a speaker at the HIVE esports business conference in Berlin on April 11, 2019. The first international esports business conference in Europe’s capital of esports. An unprecedented conference format featuring thought leaders of industries adjacent to esports sharing their insights. Click here to reserve your seat!

This interview was conducted by Trent Murray.

Source: https://esportsobserver.com/twitch-hive-berlin-interview/

SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 80 owned and affiliated websites, currently reaching over 75 million monthly visitors. The company partial 2018 reported revenue of $7.4 million representing a 625% increase over the same period in 2017.

The State Of eSports: Why Investors Should Pay Attention

• Forget marijuana stocks and cryptocurrencies, one of the latest disruptive trends investors are looking to capitalize on in 2019 is professional video gaming.
• “esports,” brings millions of spectators around the world together both online and on-location to watch competitive video gaming.
• Now, 2019 is slated to be the first year the industry surpasses $1 billion in revenue, solidifying esports’ position as a serious contender on the world stage.

Luis Aureliano , Benzinga Contributor

Newzoo Global Esports Economy 2019

Market research firm Newzoo released its 2019 report on the global esports economy last month and projects revenue for the industry to reach $1.1 billion marking an impressive +26.7 percent growth year-on-year. Newzoo indicates the fastest growing revenue stream for the industry is the selling of media rights for viewing esports with an expected growth of 41.8 percent in 2019. 

Media Rights and Increased Viewership

When it comes to esports entertainment, popular streaming platform Twitch.tv, which was acquired by Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN 0.57% for $970 million in 2014, has been at the forefront. Earlier this year, Twitch and Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI 0.42% agreed on a two year, $90 million-minimum deal to grant the streaming platform broadcasting rights for one of Activision Blizzard’s most successful games and competition, the Overwatch League (OWL).

The expansion of media rights as a revenue stream fits with the explosive growth in viewership for esports as a whole. Compared to just years ago, viewership for esports has grown significantly, particularly for League of Legends, the most popular competitive game. During the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational, League of Legends attracted more than 60 million unique viewers. To put things into perspective, the most-watched NBA game since 1998 attracted roughly half that number in 2016 with a record 30.8 million viewers during game 7.

Number of Unique Viewers for Select Esports Competitions, Statista 

The Early Esports Advantage 

Perhaps the most attractive aspect of esports for investors isn’t just the size of the audiences but the state of the market. While esports has grown substantially since its inception, the industry is still mainly a nascent one. Consider Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch as an example again since the title was one of the first games launched with esports already in mind.

Since its launch in 2016, the company has franchised out geo-located teams for Season 1 of the OWL that began last year. Now, as Season 2 is underway, the league is beginning to look more like a traditional professional sport with teams like the “London Spitfire,” “LA Gladiators,” and many others spreading from New York all the way to China and South Korea. And yet, because the OWL is still so young, no teams have their own home arenas to play in as one would expect for a professional sports team — yet.

In Philadelphia, home to the OWL’s “Philadelphia Fusion,” Comcast Corporation CMCSA 0.41% is investing to build a $50 million esports-specific arena; the first in the league. Set to be placed directly in the center of the Philadelphia Sports Complex alongside the homes of the Eagles, Flyers, 76ers, and Phillies, the 60,000 square foot arena is expected to seat 3,500 spectators and include training and broadcasting facilities as well. 

Compared to the well-established world of professional sports, esports offers a unique opportunity for investors to still gain access during the industry’s infancy. 

Growing Pains 

Though esports has experienced impressive growth, that’s not to say it hasn’t come with some growing pains along the way. A major pain point is due to the decentralized nature of competitive play as the term “esports” encompasses a vast array of different game titles, playerbases, and various leagues. Because of the fractured nature of esports, it’s not uncommon for a title to have several unaffiliated leagues for professional players like Counter Strike:Global Offensive’s open circuit system.

However, there are efforts to reduce that confusion and forward the maturity of esports. After the success of the OWL, Activision Blizzard has hinted at the creation of a similar league for Call of Duty with geo-located franchised teams. Likewise, other actors are looking to meet the needs of standardization and legitimacy for esports as well. One of the largest platforms to-date with over a million users, DreamTeam, is creating standardization for professional players across many titles like League of Legends, CS:GO and Electronic Art’s EA 1.06% latest success, Apex Legends. The platform is aiming to bring players together with event organizers, team owners and sponsors to offer an all-in-one solution for professional gaming as a whole.

Amateur players can use the platform to create teams of their own to compete and work their way to the professional levels of play, drastically reducing the barrier to entry for many games. For some titles, that barrier to entry can be steep too. In the case of League of Legends, North American teams seeking a franchise spot had to pay a hefty $10 million fee — in Overwatch, that fee was $20 million per team and potentially doubling for expansion teams in the future. With a lower barrier to entry for players around the world and an easy-to-understand ecosystem, DreamTeam is working to bridge the gap for players forming a professional team.    

The Bottom Line 

With the advent of franchised teams, massive media rights deals and the attraction of big name sponsors like The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO) and Red Bull, it’s clear that video games are no longer just a way for kids to kill time. Now, competitive gaming is one of the fastest growing industries and investors are quickly looking to get in. Whether buying a team of one’s own or investing in the endemic brands propelling esports forward, investors all over are recognizing the promising future of the industry. 

Image sourced from Pixabay

Source: https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cannabis/19/04/13488198/the-state-of-esports-why-investors-should-pay-attention