EPT
http://www.araxas.com/esports.html
At a studio in a Seoul shopping mall two young men take their seats at a pair of computer terminals, slipping on their head phones as their fingers rapidly tap the mouse preparing for their pending battle. Loud music and special effect lighting fill the studio and the packed crowd can feel the tension and anticipation build. The players are wearing uniforms that wouldn't be out of place on a Star Trek set and are known to their enthusiastic supporters by the exotic names "SlayerS_BoxeR" and "Yellow". The match begins, each cyberathlete controlling an alien race in the popular game Starcraft. A team of excitable announcers commentate the game as it?s beamed to countless Korean households on TV.
This is the world of e-sports (the "e" standing for electronic), which the rest of the world has curiously watched develop into a mainstream pastime in South Korea. Could this be the next big international sport?
This is a question many mainstream media outlets have been carefully skipping around, afraid to miss a story yet cautious not to lavish undue attention to this most recent of sporting phenomena. E-sports are still in their infancy, arguably only having begun in 1996. Simple recognition of the competitive and professional playing of computer games as a legitimate sport isn?t a guaranteed ticket to success as any water polo, field hockey, or badminton fan could testify. Likewise, intense popularity in one country doesn?t always correlate to international success, as has been the case with Sepak Takraw in Thailand and Sumo Wrestling in Japan.
What then determines whether a sport attains global popularity or remains played in relative obscurity? Do e-sports have what it takes? Sports don?t achieve that critical mass required for the big stage based on any single criteria. Only by taking a close look at each of the components of popular sports can we draw any conclusions about whether e-sports might eventually share the podium with the champions of the sporting world.
Computer Games as a Sport
Competitive gaming is no longer just kid's play and requires all the commitment of professional athletes. Not all computer games reach this level either. Of the hundreds of titles released each year only a small handful are suitable to the higher level of skill and competition one would expect from a sport. Among the two premier tournaments for international e-sports, the 2004 World Cyber Games (WCG) in San Francisco will feature eight different games, while the Cyberathlete Extreme World Championships (CPL) in Grapevine, TX will be offering only five.
Dan Schreiber, 19, is an American pro-gamer known as Rekrul[pG]. He just recently moved to Seoul to play Broodwar for the Korean pro team Hexatron DreamTeam. Comparing e-sports with traditional sports he notes, "pro-gaming is very hard because you must play game after game after game to really stand a chance at being able to compete with top players. It's all about having a good routine in both sports, which is equally hard to do in my opinion. It takes a great amount of dedication because sometimes without the right mindset, playing so much can make someone get bored of the game. And if you get bored of the game, you stand no chance at succeeding."
Defining what can make a game a true sport to a non-fan isn't easy. Casual observers can understand that sprinters are top athletes because they run really fast. Pinpointing that level of familiarity is much more difficult in games. As Dan Schreiber points out, "Without knowing anything about the game, most people would be flabbergasted by the insane speed that Starcraft players play at. But, other than that there is nothing anyone who doesn't know anything about the game could really understand enough to marvel at."
Peter Neate, 23, is Schreiber's teammate on the Hexatron DreamTeam. Broodwar fans know the Australian from Brisbane as Legionnaire. Neate echoes Schreiber's sentiment about the barrier to understanding pro-gaming, "you would need a mild understanding of the game, but there are a large number of instances where an action just draws the awe from the audience with something that gets executed well. Speed/apm is just a minor attribute, that might get a mention by the commentators, but mainly only if a player is slow/ultra faster then the norm (which is generally fast anyway) or if there is something weird such as a left handed player."
The daily routine for Peter Neate and Dan Schreiber involves waking up and playing about 6 hours (15-30 games) at the Hexatron headquarters, where the team lives, sleeps, eats, and practices. A few times each week the players attend various events and tournaments. Just for good measure the team manager has them climb a mountain twice a week to condition them physically.
The intuition and strategy of any sport play an enormous part of professional computer games like Starcraft and Quake as well. However, categorizing e-sports as a glorified version of chess isn't accurate either. The speed Neate and Schreiber refer to in pro Starcraft has a statistical measurement called APM (actions per minute) which typically varies from 200-300 among the pros. This amounts to over 4 actions with the keyboard and mouse per second, sustained over the 10 to 45 minutes of a typical game.
The Fan Base
There?s no doubt that computer games have become an entrenched aspect of popular culture. During the Christmas shopping season in 2003 alone, sales exceeded $3 billion (including console games). Console manufacturers are also increasingly offering Internet support for new releases, a market that was previously the exclusive realm of PC games. Final Fantasy Online has been one of the first games to bridge these two large markets, allowing players to interact in the game world regardless of whether they?re connecting from a PlayStation or a PC. This fusion of the two big players in computer gaming has the potential to expand and unite the player-base considerably.
Brock Pierce is the CEO of Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE). IGE has a business model some not involved with gaming might find difficult to believe. The company sells virtual property, be it swords or magical armor within the realms of online RPG games. "It's difficult for the gaming companies to balance the demands of their customer base. There's a market of players with money to spend on improving their gaming experience. But there are also those, typically the people who have 15 hours a day to play, who want that time commitment to remain a competitive advantage."
Pierce notes that IGE has opened many eyes within the gaming world that the market exists and is substantial. He points to a study by Edward Castronova, professor of economics at Cal St. Fullerton who estimates the market for virtual property to be around $400 million, with $20 million of that "captured annually by dealers in virtual currency and goods." This is a market not even the most forward-looking entrepreneurs could have predicted a decade ago. The RPG "Second Life" run by Linden Labs is testament to that trend. It has integrated its game with this market, selling virtual "real estate" on the official website. This market may be limited to die-hard fans right now, but has implications for the future of gaming. Pierce predicts, "Gaming is becoming increasingly casual, and will integrate with the mainstream as it does so."
Outside of Korea, the e-sports fans have mostly cultivated their communities without any mainstream media support. These fans are spread across thousands of fan websites, forums, clans, IRC channels, and servers. Despite so much enthusiasm, there's been surprisingly little effort to cater to this interest. A brief internet search revealed no fewer than six monthly magazines dedicated to competitive fishing but not a single English-language print magazine geared towards Pro-Gaming. Largely, this has been an error of perception among the print and television medias. Maybe the rationale goes that these games are played over the Internet, and thus e-sports fans have no interest in indulging their passion through traditional media outlets.
The Media
The 20th century witnessed the rise of mass consumer sports. The main catalysts for this trend were of course radio and later television. Paradoxically, despite the ever-increasing amounts of connected households worldwide, Internet gaming is also still dependent on these traditional media for the growth of its non-player fan base. Being a fan of Broodwar pro-gaming usually still requires having a copy of the game itself installed on one's computer. There's no way to simply go online, connect to a website, and watch top players competing live as is possible with football, golf or basketball on TV.
Steve, 19, is a Broodwar fan from Canada who follows the Korean professional scene. "In North America computer games are still considered much too weird to obtain mainstream acceptance," says Steve. Noting also, "we depend so much on the media telling us what's 'cool'." The Internet sports media is quickly growing in importance. The BBC reported on July 9 that during the recent EUFA Euro-2004 tournament, its online coverage drew over a million visitors per week. While it's promising that e-sports may eventually find its public fame through its own Internet medium, the importance of television can't be ignored just yet. Pro-Gamer Peter Neate points out that about 6 million Koreans tuned in to watch the last OGN finals on TV.
American sports channel ESPN has been filming footage of the WCG 2004 qualifiers, but for the most part TV coverage of e-sports remains limited. Peter Neate speculates that it might be a smaller channel that eventually does the trick: "I think that with the spread of cable everywhere, there will be a few start up TV channels focused on it, and will accept greater appeal from the public, and at least one of those will live and grow." Indeed, there are already some television shows focused on computer gaming in Norway, Germany, and the Czech Republic among other countries.
Star Power
"Since the mid-1990s, when Tiger Woods burst onto the national golf scene, the number of golfers between the ages of 5 and 17 has grown to more than 3 million, according to the National Association of Junior Golfers in North Palm Beach, FL," writes Jamie Kizzire of the Birmingham Post-Herald. It's hard to question that star power goes a long way. While e-sports don't have a Tiger Woods figure to propel a cross-genre rise yet, the possibility isn't being ruled out. The potential of individual players and clans has certainly attracted a lot of attention.
"Initially gamer celebrity made people turn their heads and recognize the products they were using. Not just mice, but mouse pads, headphones and other components. It started a trend where nearly every team now profiles individual's systems, input devices, settings and favorite foods. We still encourage other sponsors to jump in and sponsor one or more teams. Currently Razer is sponsoring about 25 teams around the world," explains Robert Krakoff, the General Manager of Razer Inc., a company selling high performance gaming mice.
Again, South Korea might provide the best insights into the importance of stars in e-sports. Asked about the public recognition of BoxeR, a top pro-gamer, Dan Schreiber replies, "I'm not so sure about BoxeR, but I'm pretty sure almost all the younger people will know who he is if they see him. It's not like ElkY (a French teammate of Schreiber and Neate) will be recognized by everyone walking around, but I can tell that many know who he is just by how they looked at him as we walked around in the mall, and a few fans did stop to say hi to him."
In this aspect, e-sports have a unique advantage over traditional sports. Most people would be hard-pressed to name the gold medallists in Greco-Roman wrestling at the past few Olympic games, but lots know the name "Hulk Hogan". It's hard to argue that Tiger Woods, Venus Williams, and skater Tony Hawk haven't benefited from their very catchy names. Cyber athletes are known by names that could easily pass for WWF wrestlers: Fatality, Wombat, Legionnaire, Zeus, and Rekrul. Starcraft fan Steve concurs: "Definitely! The names are what makes the stars. We know them as "JulyZerg", "Yellow", or "Reach."
"I really think it helps. People in Korea don't watch and love Starcraft because of the games itself. It is the gamers that intrigue them. Their look, their play style, their attitude, everything," says Dan Schreiber. Or do you remember him better from earlier in this article as Rekrul[pG]?
Teams & Clans
There are very few sports among the heavyweights that don't involve teams one way or another. Most individual players are only in their prime for a few years, but a team provides continuity for the fans. Rivalries and the shifting fortunes of teams add another layer of interest to absorb. Online gamers began forming clans and teams almost right away in games like the original Quake. Previously mostly existing only in small IRC channels and playing in unorganized tournaments, the clans have evolved with the competitive gaming scene.
Today top clans provide an attractive method for sponsors to reach out to the player base of a particular game. In South Korea, where gaming has evolved into its highest form yet, the idea of a clan has carried over to the professional arena of e-sports. There are currently eleven major teams in Korean pro Starcraft gaming. Among their sponsors are some big names of Korean industry: Samsung and SK Telecom.
Neate notes the rise of professional clans "were the largest step that was taken... You might have just had a favourite player but now you could support the team, and the other players with it, so it became much more like other modern sports."
The Money
Cyber games are still a niche in every country of the world except South Korea. For there to be a breakthrough into the mainstream that originates with media hype, money inevitably comes into play. Will advertisers buy time during our broadcasts? Will we get a decent return on investment sponsoring this tournament? Those are both questions future sponsors of gaming may well be asking themselves.
E-sports have an interesting advantage when it comes to corporate support. When Nike airs an ad for t-shirts, there's always an implied message of "wearing this will make you a better athlete." The link is, at best, tenuous. Computer hardware, on the other hand, has a very noticeable impact and companies are eager to use cyber sports as a platform to demonstrate their products to the more casual player and fan base.
Robert Krakoff explains, "Firstly, if Razer didn't develop better product technology we wouldn't be in business for long. Therefore, if as a manufacturer you have a unique selling advantage, it is in your best interest to equip the best e-sports athletes in the world. Gamers are too smart to support bad products, no matter who plays with them. They know that manufacturers can buy their way into the market. Razer does not pay any of our teams to use our products. They want to work with us because we make solid gaming products, support gaming and believe that they can improve their overall play by using our products."
Several companies who manufacture hardware have sponsored off-line tournaments in the past, including nVidia. However in the current Starcraft OGN Skyleague in Korea, the primary sponsor is Gillette, a company with no obvious connection to e-sports. Asked if this was strange, Krakoff replied: "I'm not surprised at all. In fact I believe that it is great for gaming to have national and international sponsors outside of gaming product sponsors get involved. It validates that gaming is more than entertainment; it validates that gaming has arrived as a sport and a business. Besides, most gamers are old enough to shave, right? Always remember, young males are the single most difficult marketing segment to reach. Advertisers would cream themselves over the opportunity to reach gamers and peddle toys and trinkets." When pressed, Steve the fan concedes he would consider buying a Gillette razor the next time around because they're supporting his favorite sport.
Early sponsorship consisted mostly of providing door prizes for LAN tournaments, but times are changing. Even in Korea the media and money surrounding the game continue to evolve. Peter Neate points out that, "league formats are always changing, and the media coverage is always becoming more professional."
The Future
Predictions range from the skeptical to the very optimistic whether e-sports have what it takes. People in the former camp include Pro-Gamers Schreiber and Neate who note that Westerners are more focused on physical feats rather than the fast hands and minds e-sports require. To an extent they're right, but computer games have grown so fast that players might soon represent a large portion of a more receptive public. It's quite possible the continued evolution and growth of gaming in general might naturally result in a likewise rise to prominence of e-sports.
The other possibility lies with the success of ESPN's X-Games of extreme sports. This has opened eyes among networks that sports can be raised from relative obscurity with the right marketing. Krakoff agrees, "That's happened already in Korea. Our hopes for gaming are that a major television or sports network will realize the size, scope and commercial popularity of gaming ... and, that they will figure a method of televising computer gaming so that the average couch potato can understand and wet himself over the action. It can be done today, and sponsors would pay huge piles of cash to be able to reach the lucrative 18 to 34 year old males of the world who no longer watch much television, don't read newspapers and spend 6 to 10 hours a day on their computers. Did I mention that gamers don't trust marketers? Look at what has happened to the X-Games over the last five years ... gaming could and should be next."
In this day and age of audiences constantly seeking new thrills, and every aspect of speed, strength, agility, and perseverance in sports already yesterday's news, why not?
Related Links
World Cyber Games - 2004 WCG in San Francisco
Cyberathlete Professional League - Extreme World Championships
Hexatron Dream Team - Korean Pro Starcraft team (site in Korean)
Razer Inc. - Producer of high performance gaming mice
Internet Gaming Entertainment - Premier company of the gaming "virtual" marketplace
