How PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds turned me into an e-sports fan

Philipp Rüegg

25.8.2017

Translation: machine translated

The big 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' tournament took place during Gamescom in Cologne. Up until then, I'd been rather indifferent to e-sports, but that was before the ESL invitational tournament...

Esport is a great activity that deserves support, but watching it? No, thanks. At least, that's what I would have told you if you'd asked me before I went to this year's Gamescom, or more specifically the PlayerUnknown's Battleground (PUBG) Invitational, the first invitational multiplayer LAN tournament for the unexpectedly successful game. Winners will receive US$350,000.

In collaboration with the ESL 80 e-sports organisation, Bluehole, the game's developer, brought together the best "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" players on the planet in Cologne. The event was streamed live, on Twitch, Mixer or YouTube. Despite showing little interest in e-sports, I started watching anyway, and had a revelation.

I suddenly understood why e-sport is so popular.

A game that fascinates me and my friends

Some people watch e-sport without playing it. I'm one of those people. I was captivated shortly after the launch of PUBG at the end of March, and I never picked it up. I hadn't played the same game for so long since World of Warcraft. That's because most of my friends have also fallen victim to the PUBG phenomenon. We regularly send each other videos of weapon evaluations, tactics or amusing failures. The shoot-outs, the search for loot and the surprises keep us on our toes. The tension is maintained from the first few minutes right through to death. What's more, while the premise of this e-sport is simple, it requires excellent tactics, which explains its popularity.

A captivating broadcast

Without the two commentators Lauren "Pansy" Scott and Richard "TheSimms" Simms, I wouldn't have been so taken by the event. They're on a par with the commentators at South American football matches, just a little less biased and sonorous. Lauren Scott is particularly capable and incredibly captivating.

Besides, the spectator mode is just brilliant. Unlike the regular versions, you have a variety of viewing options. For example, you can see all the players on the map, including each player's life bar. When someone retreats behind a stone, a yellow silhouette indicates their presence to the spectators. The players can only see what is in their field of vision, but the spectators have access to the precise position of the opposing player. We also know what's in the aerial ammunition stores before they're looted. This mode also offers choices of camera shots and flashbacks.

We did notice, however, that some aspects could be improved: instead of moving on to far more interesting situations, the camera often lingered far too long on scenes that were nothing spectacular. Sometimes the menu of an eliminated player was displayed for several seconds, while battles were raging. But I'm sure these problems will be fixed.

A learning effect

What makes this invitational PUBG tournament even more interesting to me is the learning effect. You quickly spot the tricks and tactics of the pros (the game is in third-player mode), and you immediately want to try them out. How do they move from shelter to shelter? How do they attack houses? What weapons do they use? I didn't fail to steal a few techniques from them, which are easier to use directly than those in traditional sports.

From indifferent to addicted

After devoting several gigabytes of data to watching PUBG in real time on YouTube from my smartphone, I can say that I've definitely converted to e-sports. I don't know how long I'll stay hooked, but I finally understand this phenomenon. It's a mixture of enthusiasm for the game, entertainment and access to new tricks. Even my wife has been obsessed with the tournament - and she doesn't even play. And, best of all, the cup is a golden frying pan.

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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