E-sports on a high thanks to the coronavirus crisis, but for how long?

Philipp Rüegg

16.4.2020

Translation: machine translated

Social distancing has led to enormous player growth. The number of users on Steam and Twitch is going through the roof. E-sports in particular are benefiting from this.

What to do when you're not allowed outside? That's right: game. The lockdown imposed directly or indirectly in many countries due to the coronavirus has led to a huge demand for games. People need something to do and games are the perfect way to pass the time. The online platform Steam only broke the 22 million mark in March and the 24 million brand in April. Never before have so many users been online at the same time. Twitch also reported a record with 1.4 million viewers at peak times. Even the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends staying at home and playing games with its #Staytogetherapart campaign.

Sport could be the main beneficiary of all this. And electronic sport at that. Because while football and the like are taking a forced break, games can still be played online. However, those responsible are also struggling with changes. E-sports events have long been filling stadiums with thousands of spectators. For example, the League of Legends LCS Spring Playoff, which should have taken place in Dallas in the US state of Texas in front of 12,000 spectators. Or the Overwatch League, which developer Blizzard had to convert from a local event to an online-only event within just a few days.

The ESL, one of the world's largest e-sports organisations, has also had its hands full in recent days and weeks. Among other things, the local Dota 2 Major in Los Angeles and the CS:GO Major in Rio de Janeiro have fallen victim to the coronavirus. According to Torsten Haux, VP Global Media Rights, who is pulling the strings from the home office in Cologne, it was a Herculean task to switch to online-only events within a very short space of time. "Due to the ping times from the server to the players, we had to reshuffle the teams so that the USA and Europe were played separately." The ESL events are supported by a studio production in Cologne, where two to three casters commentate on the whole thing. And because practically every e-sports player has a webcam, interviews and the like are no problem. "On paper, we were able to hold the same tournament at the same level in just one week." Haux also emphasises that the ESL Pro League - the "CS:GO" league - has never been as successful as it is now.

Classic sport and e-sports are merging

The hard work seems to be paying off. "The interest in e-sports is definitely greater than it already was. Sports games that were previously not among the top titles are also becoming increasingly popular," says Haux. Sports fans are looking for substitute entertainment when their favourite team can't play and e-sports is the obvious alternative. Manuel Oberholzer from the e-sports and gaming agency MYI Entertainment agrees. "As a sports fan, you don't watch old stuff. You want live broadcasts. There's hardly anything better than e-sports at the moment."

Some sports leagues have also realised this. Nascar and Formula 1 were among the first where drivers switched directly into the virtual Cockpit. The professionals have the advantage that the driving behaviour in simulations such as "iRacing Pro" is very close to reality. Formula 1 drivers such as Max Verstappen or Lando Norris can even keep up with the e-sports pros. The races are commentated by official presenters. There is also no risk of fatal collisions. Nevertheless, it is not completely safe, as Nascar driver Bubba Wallace had to learn. After a rage-quit in the middle of the live broadcast, he forfeited his sponsor, who did not appreciate his behaviour.

In "FIFA" or "Counter-Strike GO", things are a little more complicated, but more and more professional amateur athletes are getting involved there too. Football star Neymar Jr, for example, is an avid CS:GO player. It is attributed to his influence that his sponsor Nike now also supports his favourite e-sports team FURIA from Brazil.

Most footballers, however, are likely to be drawn to "FIFA 20". In both the German Bundesliga and the Swiss Super League, the stars are already busily stomping across the pixel turf. While in the Bundesliga Home Challenge e-sports pros play together with professional footballers, in Switzerland players from all Super League teams competed against each other for the first time. Two players each took part in the eFootball Cup 2020 over the Easter weekend, including Steven Lang from FC Servette and Mattia Botani from FC Lugano.

With all this commitment, the question arises as to whether these are all just stopgaps? After all, the athletes shouldn't have much else to do, so at least they remain a topic of conversation. Whether they will remain loyal to e-sports when the pitch is open again remains to be seen.

It's not quite that simple

Since there are no sporting events on TV, you might think that a lot of advertising money has been freed up and is now looking for a new buyer. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. "In a crisis, Marketing is always the first area to be cut. What's more, many of the contracts are long-term," explains Oberholzer. Although mYinsanity is experiencing a slight increase in demand, many lack the courage to jump on the e-sports bandwagon now. The need for explanation also speaks against short-term solutions: "E-sports is not a topic that can be explained quickly." Everyone knows football, but for "League of Legends", for example, you have to go further and do more persuasion work.

Haux from ESL also does not want to overestimate the current hype. Because the overall market is retreating due to the crisis, many companies will be cautious with new projects for the time being. "The additional attention is certainly opening doors. Companies in particular that have not previously been involved in e-sports are now realising that e-sports satisfies the same needs as traditional sports."

Despite this, everyone involved hopes that the crisis will soon be over and normality will return. The next major local tournament, ESL One Cologne, is already scheduled for July. However, this is also likely to be cancelled. On Wednesday, the German government decided that major events are banned until the end of August. Gamescom will apparently also not take place in its current form. In Switzerland, gamers can still hope. After Fantasy Basel, nobody wants to see the Zurich Game Show postponed. We will probably only be able to judge for sure in a few months or even a year whether e-sports has received a lasting boost from the coronavirus crisis.

Philipp Rüegg

Senior Editor

Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.ch

Being the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur. more

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