Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Does Professional Gaming Have a Future?

Posted by Soulskill on from the fatal-one-thank-you dept.

mr_sifter writes "Three years ago, celebrity gamers such as Fatal1ty were bagging millions in prizes, and TV channels were queuing up to broadcast games on TV. Professional gaming looked set for the big time. It never happened, and in the current economic crisis, sponsors and media organizations are cutting costs, resulting in the closure of many pro gaming competitions (as we recently discussed) and a down-scaling in prize money. This feature looks at whether pro gaming can bounce back, and whether it will always be a PC sport, or if pro gaming on consoles is the future."

21 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. No by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's just a marketing tool by PR companies. As soon as they find a better way to sell games, they'll drop it like a hot brick.

    1. Re:No by Quantos · · Score: 2, Informative

      Racing is an incredibly effective way to sell cars.
      My dad used to sell cars back in the 60's, when one manufacturer won a race on the weekend the sales for that car spiked the following week. He loved it when Dodge won the race.
      As for games, I don't buy games just because others like them. I buy them because I like them. Thanks to the readily available demos. Whereas auto racing has a purpose to it's heritage, video gaming doesn't. Until that changes gamers will need jobs.

      --
      Some people are only alive because it's against the law for me to hunt them down and kill them.
  2. Mass culture not ready for ... by blahplusplus · · Score: 5, Informative

    ... pro gaming. While you have places like Korea and starcraft, it's not the norm anywhere else.

    I remember many startups like "Online athletes" years ago (defunct now) trying to create a "pro gaming" site and pay gamers for winning games, the y failed horribly.

    Also there is a problem with pro gaming - the games keep changing and you can't do real "pro gaming" online because of cheaters and hackers, so you can't be sure the people you're playing against are "clean".

    Gaming is also not like other sports where you stick to one game and then build an audience around that game around those rules. In the video game world everything is constantly changing.

    One of my best friends plays at the WCG every year and would always be in the top 10 players but he never made any real money on it, he won prizes like computer hardware, etc. But I think it will take a leap forward in culture and technology before eSports takes off (a generation or so) when gaming is seen as something normal that most everybody does, and technology has advanced to allow more activity... in which Nintendo's Wii will be seen as just one of the first attempts.

    Many competitive sports games can be really fun to watch but only if the camera work is done intelligently. Things like Orange Smoothie/other mods for Quake 3, etc, allowed people to stream live matches to the web so people could watch the match, truth be told... not all video games are exciting to watch, and this has to do with the lack designing the game and the games systems to do what traditional camera's do for televised sports.

    1. Re:Mass culture not ready for ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      You are spot on with the constant change problem. It takes very long to build an audience. Look for example at snow/skate boarding and how long it took them to get where they are now, which is still far behinde more traditional sports. Most games just don't live that long. Starcraft is a notable exception. Games are just not made to last long, because there is no money in that.

      Real online games could perhaps change the picture. Games that are made to play online. They are still rather new and just start to mature. There are still lots of lessons to learn for the producers. But I think for example Quake live could be a great deal here. It does not intend to be the newest and greatest and most complex or realistic. That means it doesn't follow a trend and won't be outdated as easily. It has simple and intuitive rules (kill or die) and is just fun. And it will be easily available for almost everyone. All that places it a lot closer to real sports than almost every other modern game.

    2. Re:Mass culture not ready for ... by nine-times · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Things like Orange Smoothie/other mods for Quake 3, etc, allowed people to stream live matches to the web so people could watch the match, truth be told... not all video games are exciting to watch, and this has to do with the lack designing the game and the games systems to do what traditional camera's do for televised sports.

      Well you also have to realize that the televised sports aren't all that exciting to watch. They put in a lot of time, money, and effort into the production of the televised events. They have camera's all over the field with directors choosing the shot, when to do an instant replay, etc. They have a team of people just for putting that yellow line down on the football field to mark the first down. They hire experienced sportscasters who exist largely for the purpose of describing what's going to in such a way as to make it seem more interesting and exciting.

      Even if video games were otherwise viable as a spectator sport, they probably wouldn't gain in popularity until someone really put in the work to professionally produce the events like a sporting event. And who's going to do that when, as you bring up, it's such a moving target? People keep playing newer games, and even a given game might get updates which change the gameplay, so the rules of the game keep changing. The platforms keep changing. By the time you developed the systems and procedures and expertise to cover one game, years would have passed and that game would be old news.

      With most current professional sports, people have been playing that particular game for at least 100 years or so. Do you think today's popular video games will still be popular in 100 years?

    3. Re:Mass culture not ready for ... by SL+Baur · · Score: 2, Interesting

      But I think it will take a leap forward in culture and technology before eSports takes off (a generation or so) when gaming is seen as something normal that most everybody does,

      Why a generation or so? In my age bracket (40-50), the oddball is someone who does not play computer games of some sort.

      The "problem" (as I see it) is the medium. How much has baseball (for example) changed in the last 50 years? Only a tiny handful of outdoor sports have gained enough popularity over the centuries to become viable professional sports.

      The closest thing to a timeless computer game I've encountered is Rogue/Nethack. It is boring as hell to watch someone else play. As much I like World of Warcraft, there is no way I would pay to watch someone play it and all of the videos (with maybe one exception[1]) are fairly tedious to watch.

      Your other comments are pretty much spot-on, this one, I think, is off.

      [1] The video of the dwarf knocking people off a bridge in a battleground with hard packed snowballs was funny, but not sport.

  3. Short answer: by drsquare · · Score: 5, Funny

    No.

    Long answer:

    No, not really, outside of Korea anyway. But they eat dogs.

  4. Not just pro gaming. by rackserverdeals · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The economy is pretty bad and will take a long time to get fixed. When it is fixed, it's not going to be anything like the free ride a lot of people were used to in the past decade.

    Pro gaming isn't going to be the only area. I expect actors and pro athletes to take a hit too.

    Does it make sense to pay someone millions of dollars to play a game or pretend to be someone else in front of a camera while millions are losing their homes and jobs?

    Take pro sports. Where do they make their money? Well. One way is selling tickets to games. But ticket prices have been soaring. Here's a historical look at Yankee ticket prices. It's really insane to think a box seat goes for $250 after season ticket discounts. That's just not something a lot of people are going to be able to justify. Same goes for merchandise.

    Another way that sports franchises make money is through advertising. Both in the venue, on tv and through endorsements. Many people are spending less. They either don't have the income they used to have or they need to save more to cover the losses in their savings and retirement plans. It doesn't matter who endorses that new toy/car/carpet/whatever. People will be buying less. That means less money is going to be spent on advertising and we already started seeing advertising budgets cut.

    The economy grew too high, too fast with nothing to support it. The current administration and previous administration kept pumping money into the system to keep it from collapsing. That can't go on forever. We're not going to recover from it. The best we can hope is that all this money that is being printed is being used in a way that will go into new industries that can help fill the void all these scammers created.

    --
    Dual Opteron < $600
    1. Re:Not just pro gaming. by KarlIsNotMyName · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, athletes and actors can take a big hit in salary and still be well paid for what they're doing (either they take a big hit, or we stop using the stupidly expensive actors for movies that could've been made a lot cheaper and a lot more profitable without them). I don't see how their roles in society are more important than that of a farmer, that actually gives us something we need to live. Or a doctor, that straight up saves lives. Same goes for the CEOs and really anyone that's worth more than 10 million dollars. No one needs more than 10 million dollars to spend on themselves, and no one needs anything near that per year. That money can buy a big house, a big car or other transportation, and the best medical treatment (though if you need expensive medical care, you're more often than not, not in a position to pay for it).

      --
      We are all God's parents.
  5. There will be a few jobs by grizdog · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Piloting drones for the military, or one of those rovers on the moon or another planet, or submersibles used for underwater repairs or construction or treasure hunting, or robots that work with bombs or hazardous materials, and things like that. It's not professional gaming, but gaming will prepare you for those jobs at least as well as anything else will

    1. Re:There will be a few jobs by Weedhopper · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's not just stuff like this. There's an obvious digital divide in the OR. You can tell the difference between people who can quickly and intuitively grasp the difference between camera angles and on screen manipulation and those who don't. Age is a huge factor.

  6. Of course by evilNomad · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As long as someone is willing to sit and watch someone play a game, why wouldn't there be basis for a pro-gaming? Would you like to advertise directly to 1.000.000 16-25 year old males that play a lot of games, and buy a lot of hardware? Well then pro-gaming is where it is at, and you can get some really cheap well targeted advertising. When the advertising dollars are there, the rest is easy.

  7. As much future as professional watching porn by Jafafa+Hots · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Just imagine... professional porn watching, and you can tune in and watch your favorite porn watchers watch porn. And, the professional stamp collector watching channel - exciting action, watching those philatelists lick hinges. Why, soon EVERY leisure activity can be a spectator sport. Watch people read the latest exciting novels, watch them watch movies. Watch people watching people watching people watch TV!

    Hey here's an idea for a new show - Guitar Hero Hero Hero! Watch someone pretend to watch someone pretend to play guitar!

    --
    This space available.
    1. Re:As much future as professional watching porn by jshackney · · Score: 2, Funny

      Geez, I'm starting to feel bad that I paid an extra $19.95 a month for the new DirecTV Paint Drying channel.

  8. Ultimate Gamer by Ferret96 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The Spike Channel is trying to capitalize on this with the show "Ultimate Gamer". I saw one episode and the show seems more like MTV's Real World than any real gaming competition. While that kind of show doesn't appeal to me, I think I can see what they are trying to do. How do you create a delivery system around a game that makes it interesting to watch? With sports you can go to the field or watch it on TV and in either circumstance you are watching something that is dynamic that engages your attention. However, with video games, all the action is on a screen whose images are usually suited for only viewing one side of what's going on (Blue Team only, or Red Team only). There are way to switch back and forth between the players, but that hardly is smooth. Also I don't know about you but watching my friends play Halo 3 is nowhere near as fun as watching a ball game.

  9. I seriously doubt it, few activites allow it by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 2, Informative

    While you MIGHT want to link pro-gaming with pro-sports, the simple fact is that very few sports can be done on a pro-level. Especially the kind of pro-level that hands out small fortunes in prize money.

    I read a story just recently about a dutch soccer player who played for one of the smaller but still big enough to matter teams, who in between matches worked as a constructor and now does once again. Okay, so his team wasn't in the top, but still, soccer is HUGE and he could NOT earn enough with the sport to make it his full time occupation.

    The top darter in holland drives a tram. I am sure there are many other examples of sports that are at times aired on tv, where an individual might even be famous and they still need an ordinary day job to pay the bills.

    You also have to consider the audience. Yachting attracts big sponsers because the people who watch it spend big money. Is gaming like that? Would you slap down several thousand bucks for a seat at a programing event? Did you buy the new X-fi soundcards? Gamers are two markets anyway, the geeks and the new MTV crowd. Cater to one and you loose the other. Doesn't happen with soccer. The geek gaming crowd isn't going to spend a fortune on a branded item. They know the deal and will get something cheaper instead. The MTV crowd? They got lots more to spend it on, you are competing with all other entertainment and mobile phones and clothes for their money.

    So no, I don't think pro-gaming has a future, it will always be like one of those small sports where sometimes someone gets their 15 minutes of fame and if they are smart make enough to live comfortably for the rest of their lives but equal to say Soccer or baseball or whatever is your countries big sport. No.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  10. Gaming is a poor spectator 'sport'... by dr_wheel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A little background about myself: I spent the better part of my teens and early 20's playing at a high competitive level in games like Quake and Counter-Strike. I've won semi-major events; I was even on a few teams with notable CPL/WCG winners. You could say that I was right on the cusp of becoming a pro gamer.

    There are a few reasons that I didn't go "pro" like a budding career and the fact that only the very cream of the crop players actually made enough money at the time to consider pro gaming a worthwhile endeavor. I knew I wasn't the best player around, and carting myself around to places like the CPL to finish in the bottom half of the top 10 or top 5 didn't make any sense to me. Working a steady job and earning a living from 9-5, 5 days a week, did.

    Back then, I watched a lot of demos of other players and teams. You know what? I hated it. It felt like homework to me. When I attended lans, I rarely watched or was interested in spectating matches.

    Why? Because gaming, especially at the highest levels, is way more fun when you are actually playing. Gaming, to me, is all about the adrenaline rush that you get when you're storming a base, or grabbing quad damage, or fighting back to win a round when it's 1v3. Spectating, to me, is for losers. Spectating is what I did back in high school when I lost a round of Street Fighter II and had to sit and wait for my turn in a rotation of friends.

    I have probably said it here before, but it bears repeating. Pro gaming relies on sponsorship which, in turn, relies on spectators. And gaming is a is a poor spectator 'sport', or at the best, a niche market.

  11. Re:A little bit besides the question by pathotron · · Score: 2, Informative

    www.gomtv.net is the english version of the site.

  12. Pro gaming by rob1980 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Professional gaming looked set for the big time. It never happened...

    I will tell you why it never happened: the same reason other dot com creations like Webvan and Pets.com "looked set for the big time" and then promptly disappeared. The difference between professional gaming and Webvan is that professional gaming refused to die. A friend of mine was active in that stuff for years and despite being pretty good at what he did, all he ever won was an $800 check that had to be split 4 ways with his teammates. That was after multiple trips to all four corners of this country and at least a couple outside of the country. Not enough people give enough of a shit for sponsors to care enough about professional gaming, therefore there is no money in it for the participants unless you win the whole thing. Even low-rent sports leagues like the AFL pay their bottom-rung players something.

    The day an organized league with a valid, sustainable salary structure comes into town is the day professional gaming makes it. Otherwise all it'll ever be is a smattering of competitions for people who can afford to take long weekends to go sit in some hotel conference room and jam themselves full of Red Bull and play video games in tournament brackets.

  13. More profitable venues.... by Dekar · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A lot of them seem to be turning to online poker, which is obviously more profitable but requires similar skills.

    If there was a way to play Counter-Strike for 1$ a kill, then you'd have professional gamers.

  14. The question is... by Jerrei · · Score: 2, Insightful

    do professional gamers have a future?