EPT
Welcome,
This time I interviewed the upcoming esports Studio from Japan, e-Sports SQUARE. They are operating a gaming cafe and a professionel studio where the LJL is held. In addition they hold various event from other e-sports tournaments or viewing parties. When you are in Japan and have a few hours to spare visit them in Akihabara.
Also TL-user nemuke wrote a nice report about his visit at the venue with even more pictures. Check it out.
Signing off,
Chexx
Chexx
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![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/shiroiusagi/twitter.gif)
Q: Could you introduce yourself?
e-Sports SQUARE: Hello, I am Suzuki Fumio, male, 43 years old, and President at SANKO Inc.
SANKO is an advertising agency which celebrates its 50th year anniversary this year and is mainly involved in entertainment business such as animations, movies, fighting sports, and music.
I got to know esports 5 years ago and decided to start a business in esports 3 years ago.
Today, we operate an esports stadium and run a League of Legends tournament.
Q: What is Akihabara e-Sports square?
e-Sports SQUARE: It is a facility built based on the concept of “Watch, Play and Talk About” esports.
- Match-up stage, caster booth:
Main stage that is capable of accommodating 7 x 7 match up, is equipped with large multi monitor, lighting system. There is also a caster booth where up to 3 people can sit. - Latest equipment:
Latest sound, lighting, streaming equipment to show the match more exciting. - High-spec PC & devices:
Installed professional use high-spec devices. - Café & Bar:
Communication space to Watch and Talk About esports for fans. - Contents:
e-Sports league run by esports SQUARE
Website that updates match videos and results
Hold various esports public viewing events
Q: What kind of events and leagues do you hold? Is there an admission to get into the studio?
e-Sports SQUARE: We run League of Legends Japan League (LJL), which is Japan’s League of Legends league played by the top 4 teams. There is no admission fee if you want to watch the games.
We also hold Square Gaming Party, which is an event for fans to play various games. Fees to join these events is 1,000 to 3,000 JPY.
Q:How did you decide to start an esports studio in Japan? Even though esports isn’t as famous in Japan.
e-Sports SQUARE:
- Increased needs:
We opened a small esports facility in Ichikawa city, Chiba, outside Tokyo, in 2011 for the purpose of testing the market. We operated the facility for 2 years and the number of fans increased. As we got to understand the needs of players, game publishers as well as device companies, we decided to move the place to Akihabara.
- Increased popularity of League of Legends
The number of participants to online/ offline League of Legends events increased drastically.
Q: OGN visited you in Japan. What did you guys talk about?
e-Sports SQUARE:
- History of esports in Korea and how it got so big.
- How esports can grow in Japan:
We got advice how to establish an esports culture. He told us it is important to improve the contents quality, have media that talks about e-sports, and grow teams who can compete in the world scene.
Q: Do you think japanese esports will grow?
e-Sports SQUARE: Yes, for these reasons:
- Decline of console games:
By analyzing various data related to gaming industry, we feel the shift from console games such as Nintendo to PC games has already started. Players get to know esports as they experience competitive PC games. We think this shift will accelerate. - Increasing attention from media:
The number of approaches from media to us is increasing compared to before. In Japan, once a trend hits, it spreads rapidly. - RIOT Games coming to Japan:
Game makers whose core competence is esports are making a foray to Japan and are improving Japan’s esports market. One of the reasons why esports culture did not previously develop in Japan was the indifference of Japanese game makers in esports. - Increasing working force from overseas:
Japan’s has an aging society, and therefore, securing a workforce from overseas is an essential task. As we have the 2020 Olympics coming up, it is expected that large number of foreign youth will pour into Japan. As esports events are much more popular outside Japan, we think that these youths are the keys to Japan’s esports growth. These foreign workers are familiar with esports and will bring new fans with them.
Q: What needs to be done in order to grow e-sports in Japan?
e-Sports SQUARE:
- Passionate personnel:
We need people who want to make dream come true not alone but with others. - To establish esports culture:
We need to watch and play esports titles, which is why we focus on the facilities, content, and media platform. - Support from game publishers
We need game publishers who support esports in general, beyond just the game title. - Collaboration with other business industries.
Like any other professional sports, it needs support from companies in other industries. We need strong will to keep searching for sponsors with whom we can make this happen.
Q: The LJL is coming to an end. What did you learn in this first season about production and your thoughts so far?
e-Sports SQUARE:
- Toughness of games:
The fact that teams who share the same dream and joined the league will get demoted from the league if they lose. - Communication and sharing vision between organizer and teams and players:
Why are they playing in the league? It is difficult to share a sense of purpose because everyone has different reasons. - Fair judge:
We realized that we need to have concrete standards for judgment in case of unexpected events. We need to review whether rules are set for the benefit of the players and fans, and not for operations. - Unexpected amount of cost:
We struggled on how to improve the quality of events and streams while simultaneously reducing cost. This year, we made efforts to improve the quality.
Q: The winning team will compete in NLB in Korea. How did this arrangement happen? Is this cooperation with Korea you want to explore more?
e-Sports SQUARE: Kim Sung Hwan, a SANKO Inc. employee, had a network in Korea’s esports industry. He was involved in esports when he worked at an advertising agency in Korea. He later worked as a manager of CJ Entus team before he came to Japan. Now at SANKO, he is involved in esports event production and overseas business.
Q: This season had 4 teams competing. Are there any plans to increase the team slots or are you happy with 4?
e-Sports SQUARE: Yes, we plan to expand slots to 8 teams this year and into 2015. To establish the base of operations, we only started with 4 teams.
Q: Are you planning to get an English Broadcast for the LJL?
e-Sports SQUARE: Yes, we are now looking for English casters and commentators. Interested people can send us their application to ljlofficial(at)e-sports-square.com
Q: Riot will open Japanese server some time this year. Do you think they can be successful? What should they do to be successful?
e-Sports SQUARE: Yes, no doubt. We assume the number of players on NA server last year increased 5 to 10 times. We think it is important to create original champions for Japan, good relationship with esports organizers like us, and support for the teams. We believe the success of Riot Japan will lead to success of esports in Japan.
Q: Anything else planned for the future?
e-Sports SQUARE: Our goal is to become like OGN.
- This year we will improve the LJL quality:
Provide opportunities for teams to play in overseas tournaments in order to raise their level.
Interactions with foreign players/ teams. Raise casters and commentators. - Hold other game title events frequently:
By holding other e-Sports titles that are popular in the world, we will be able to understand the needs in Japan. - Stable support of finance and personnel:
By achieving stable income such as event sponsorship fee, event participation fee as well as website advertisements and online shop, and systemize the distribution of resources continuously.
e-Sports SQUARE Website
TwitchTV Channel
