Here’s a great column by The Chernin Group’s Edward Chang on GameIndustry.biz :
eSports: The missed billion-dollar opportunity for publishers and platforms
Now, we don’t usually publish opinion piece on our blog but this it’s hard to pass on this one. You should read it.
tl;dr Esports belong to publishers and this can be a hurdle for third-party start-ups and platforms. If publishers want to thrive in Esports, they have to nurture a dedicated ecosystem.
Spoiler Chang nailed it.
The post goes through the relationship between the top Esports publishers and the Esports platforms. With a defensive / conservative approach to their game, publishers seem to slow things down and only think short term. Esports are about long term vision.
Credit: Newzoo
Advanced statistics, tournament organization, bets, in-game items, replays, spectating experience and custom services are some of the many opportunities which could amplify the Esports reach and economy.
At Toornament, we’re blessed to be integrated with some of the major games and work hard to integrate with more, at a deeper level. We’re an Esports platform but we believe that the real platforms are the games themselves. They must be the source and epicenter of a rich ecosystem of integrated services and businesses, in which all parties will benefit from each other.
Video games are closed products, but Esports must be an open platform. If we keep this in mind, the industry will really thrive.
Read: eSports: The missed billion-dollar opportunity for publishers and platforms