As the world of traditional and physical sports have gone to a pause, Esports have gathered much more attention. Millions of people have turned back to online gaming as they say it is the only better way to spend time at home. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, esports giants are making tons of profits as they have gained a lot more audience. Similarly, there is a bad side to the picture as well. Big tournaments for different games are now taking place online and the live events have vanished for the time being. It can’t be said that esports was totally immune to the pandemic as it has seen some positive and some negative sides together.
Current Pandemic Situation
Almost every country has been infected by the COVID-19 and therefore they have devised some ways to thrive in this situation. As of June 2020, most of the European countries who got infected the most, are coming back to normal life. Most of the countries have lifted the lock-down and the rest of them are in between of it. Although the countries are lifting the lockdown, big esports events still got canceled for this year. The governments are allowing people to get back to work but not letting them gather for a gaming competition. Similarly, the Asian countries are also coming back on track as they have seen the peak of the virus and learned how to live with this viral situation. Currently, the world has started coming back to normal and live with precautions to avoid further spread of the plague.
Esports and the Pandemic
It’s been said that esports was not very much affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as people have turned more towards online gaming. While this point is valid, we cannot deny the fact that the esports giants like Valve, Riot, and many more have faced a lot of trouble due to the current pandemic situation. There are some of the positive and negative impacts that this pandemic has left over the esports.
The Negatives
Throughout the year, big esports companies used to conduct mega tournaments to attract people and make tons of money on it. As of 2020, all the live tournaments got canceled and all the tournaments got shifted to an online basis. This has taken the companies to face a lot of losses. Cancellation of the tournaments has also affected the relationships between the publishers and the small developers. The sponsors also faced a lot of trouble as they failed to advertise their brand during big tournaments. Similarly, a lot of players failed to join the teams as international traveling got totally banned during the pandemic in each country and the teams had to include substitutes in them. This resulted in unexpected outcomes in the online tournaments and a lot of big teams failed to perform their best.
The Positives
If we look at the brighter side of the picture, this pandemic has brought so much audience to the esports industry. Almost every country that got infected, imposed a lockdown and people were forced to stay at home. This made a lot of former players come back to the gaming world. As the companies were facing trouble due to the cancelation of the tournaments, they witnessed a big rise in the number of people returning to a game. To get the best of the situation, different esports organizations released multiple in-game features so that people would spend more in a game. For example, recently Valve launched Battle Pass for Dota 2 and it already crossed 10 million USD mark. The current pandemic has affected the esports but it can be said that it didn’t affect the esports too much as the games are already being played online.
A Game Changer for Global Esports Economy
This pandemic has brought a lot of former players back to the esports. A lot of players are once again addicted to the games and have started investing more in them. The current COVID-19 pandemic is considered to be a game-changer for the esports economy. Although all the major tournaments are canceled on a live platform, they have been shifted to an online basis.
The esports industry has not seen such a rise in the audiences for a while and because the people are forced to stay at home, gaming is the best option for everyone. More players are now investing in the games and the esports giants are making more money. The current pandemic situation is bringing much more profits for the esports industry and definitely a game-changer for its economy.
Game Developers become Active
Different game developers like Valve, Riot, Epic, and others are taking full advantage of the current situation. As more people are diverted towards esports and are ready to invest more in it, these developers are bringing out new opportunities every day. As the gaming companies are facing trouble with the live tournaments, they are taking full advantage of the situation while it lasts. Each and every game developer is bringing something for the audience as gamers are willing to spend. Epic Games made GTA V for free on their launcher so that the players could enjoy while the quarantine lasts for.
Conclusion
COVID-19 pandemic has affected each and every aspect of life in some way. Esports was considered to be immune to the pandemic as it solely depends on online methods. Although this statement has somewhat authenticity in it, it cannot totally be said as the industry has seen some ups and downs during the pandemic. Esports had to say goodbye to the live tournaments as the public gathering was prohibited due to the pandemic. On the other hand, the industry witnessed some of the biggest audiences during these times. A lot of people turned back to gaming as they were forced to stay at home. Big companies have taken full advantage of the situation and introduced a lot of new promotions for the players to make more profits. It can be said that this COVID-19 pandemic has affected esports more in a positive way as the industry has made much more profits than ever before.
HMU
Make sure to check out the HMU Mobile App, as we all know its always better to watch esports matches and streams with your friends. That is it for now but stayed tuned as HMU is going to be constantly bringing you more esports and gaming related news, tournaments and streams to watch during this pandemic. Until then, stay home and support your favorite esports teams by watching these tournaments live and online.
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