Overwatch Takes eSports World by Storm & The Emergence of Sports-Based eSports
Overwatch Takes eSports World by StormThe largest development in eSports this month is the massive success of the release of Blizzard's new first-person shooter game: Overwatch. Overwatch breaks 7 million players in its first two weeks and 10 million players by the third week, resulting in an estimated $600 million in revenue.More importantly, Overwatch ends League of Legends' 46 consecutive month record as the number one played game in Korean PC cafes, a key indicator of global popularity as an eSport.This has not gone unnoticed by eSports organizations, with tournament organizers like ESL and One Nation of Gamers scrambling to host events. Blue chip teams like Cloud 9, Luminosity Gaming, and EnvyUs have quickly moved to sign professional teams to compete in these tournaments.In the fast-changing industry that is eSports, one major event, like a successful game launch, can cause massive changes. Overwatch's unprecedented success has coincided with a strong blow to the Heroes of the Storm, also a Blizzard game. A list of teams have departed the game recently: Cloud9, Tempo Storm, CompLexity, Virtus.Pro, and Cognitive.The eSports world is impatiently waiting for Overwatch's esports plans, especially after competitive mode was activated on June 28. Will Overwatch adopt their traditional tournament system which culminates into a World Championship at their annual Blizzcon? Or will Overwatch build a league system much like League of Legends' LCS structure?The Emergence of Sports-Based eSportsSports-based eSports finally made their grand entrance into esports. 2K Games hosted their Road to the Finals event for NBA 2K16, Madden NFL 16 crowned a champion and announced a $1 million tournament series next year, and FIFA ran their Interactive World Cup, the Guinness World Record holder for largest video gaming tournament (2.3 million players tried to qualify).All of these events have led eSports pundits to opine on one question: can sports-based eSports be successful as fantasy-based eSports? The eSports team at BRaVe will be tackling that question in our next thought-leadership piece. Stay tunedTHE BIG DEAL06/21—Tencent has agreed to acquire an 84.3% stake in Supercell, the Finnish gaming company whose titles include Clash of Clans and Clash Royale, from SoftBank at an enterprise value of around $10.2 billion.DEALS & NEWS
Sponsorships06/02: Biosteel enters into a “bench” deal with NRG06/02: Comcast partners with ESL and Evil Geniuses06/09: NBA star Gordon Hayward inks esports endorsement deal with HyperX06/16: Bud Light to sponsor esports All Stars06/23: Amazon Appstore sponsors Vainglory esports
New Investments & Entrants06/06: AT&T and the Chernin group to unveil gaming subscription06/07: La Liga club Valencia CF starts an esports team 06/09: EPL team Manchester United in bidding war with esports team Fnatic06/09: Forge locks down $4.5 million Series A investment led by True Ventures06/09: Gamer Sensei raises $2.5 million Series Seed round06/12: EA plans to award $1 million to top Madden NFL players06/15: German free-TV channel SPORT1 partners with ESL 06/16: SkyTV to air 24/7 esports channel, GINX Esports TV, on television06/16: Bethesda to jump into esports with Quake Champions06/21: Dalian Wanda will distribute esports documentary06/24: CBLoL finals to be streamed live on Brazilian TV06/27: Canal+ sponsors eSports team and launches eSports showIndustry News & Partnerships06/01: Rocket League tops $110 million in sales06/06: Blizzard integrates Overwatch with Facebook06/08: Russia recognizes esports as official sport06/10: ESL to host Overwatch competition with six figure prizepool06/14: Overwatch hits 10 million players in under a month06/16: Activision Blizzard’s produces Skylander’s TV show on Netflix06/17: IeSF taking steps that aim for Olympic committee recognition.Interesting Reads06/09: Scripted TV is dying06/13: Brands are betting on esports06/20: ELeague analyst m0E made backdoor deal with betting website.06/22: Sponsor bans draw attention to top down governance in esports06/27: Overwatch overtakes LoL at Korean PC Bangs