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Esports landscape in Sri Lanka: To game or not to game?

17 Oct 2021

Playing video games was once just a hobby chiefly popular among teenage boys. Today, it’s a global industry expected to surpass $ 1.5 billion by 2023, according to Business Insider. According to Forbes, “esports is fast on its way to becoming the most financially lucrative market on the planet, thanks to huge exposure and interest in major tournaments”. Celebrities, investors, and big brands are seizing the opportunities in this booming market by forming partnerships and making investments. More than fun and games In esports, the excitement of video games extends beyond bedroom walls to reach stadiums and arenas seating thousands of zealous fans. Esports has a bigger audience than most sports nowadays. Its 2017 total global viewership of 335 million is expected to balloon to 646 million in 2023, and the number of monthly gamers is poised to jump from 167 million to 276 million between 2018 and 2022, according to Business Insider. Additionally, 30% of esports viewers and 35% of esports players are women, according to NBC News. Furthermore, the livestreaming gaming platform Twitch saw a 22% increase in the total number of minutes its users spent watching gamers play or discuss video games from 2016 to 2017, reaching 355 billion minutes. The Sims Resource (TSR), the largest Sims community site in the world, receives 2.5 billion page views per year. Players reap serious benefits from this interest: Ninja, an international gamer who streams himself playing video games on Twitch, earns around $ 1 million per month. Esports have also become a lucrative business for gaming companies. Esports events account for 9% of their revenue and media rights represent 14%. ESports in Sri Lanka The Sri Lanka Esports Association (SLESA), especially along with its associates, has been making great strides in pushing electronic sports forward in Sri Lanka. Esports was recognised as an official sport in 2019, and SLESA, as the governing body for the sport, has been putting together a roadmap for taking the sport to the #1 spot in the region. Sri Lanka currently has over three million esports fans in the country, with esports streaming making a name for itself in the country. Live streaming of games is popular amongst the GenZ audience with popular gaming personalities taking shape to lead the streaming vertical into the future. Corporate Sri Lanka is entering the esports arena with esports tournaments and exclusive products and services, which is a clear indication of esports becoming a mega success in the future in Sri Lanka. There are several reasons for the explosion of esports’ popularity. For instance, esports has a strong social component that easily connects fans to players and teams through gaming platforms and social media sites such as Twitch and YouTube Gaming. The industry also encompasses opportunities in gaming, media, pop culture, and commerce. Additionally, the global esports industry has received substantial investment increases to support its proliferation – $ 4.5 billion in 2018, compared with $ 490 million in 2017, according to Business Insider. Since 1998, the number of professional gamers has been growing at a rate of 43% per year, according to Forbes. Samsung: Powering esports like a pro Samsung, as an innovative market leader, has contributed to many innovations including products, services, and innovations and has identified esports as a key passion point amongst youth in Sri Lanka. In 2020, Samsung successfully completed six large-scale gaming competitions with over 1,500 participants each and over 175,000 people engaging in streaming the tournament. Samsung also organised the main event titled “Samsung Online Esports Showdown” and the second event “Samsung Members Online Esports Showdown” in the past, creating unique prize pools and opportunities for young esports athletes. Samsung has expressed its certainty to increase focus in developing esports in Sri Lanka and take Sri Lankan esports to the global esports arena. In 2021 amidst the lockdown, Samsung engaged with its fans through Samsung Combat Arena, organising a plethora of esports-related competitions including cosplay (costume play) competitions, quizzes, online gaming tournaments, and exclusive Samsung member tournaments to win the largest gift value of Rs. 1.2 million in cash and products in a single tournament. The “Samsung Combat Arena 2021” was a milestone event for Samsung as it reached out to gamers and movie-lovers to participate in many esports activities and more. Sri Lanka’s esports enthusiasts can look up to Samsung, which is at the helm of many more innovations and events in the years to come. Samsung hosts monthly competitions named “Samsung Challenge Series”, in which gaming competitions are organised around popular titles to win smartphones, buds, watches, power banks, etc. and be awarded as champion of different titles. Samsung is one of the first brands in Sri Lanka to consistently organise tournaments, sponsor district and national-level tournaments, and provide smartphones and accessories as gifts in the esports arena. Samsung Sri Lanka also introduced a variety of smartphones that enhances the gaming experience, including the latest Galaxy Z Fold3 5G which has a 120Hz refresh rate on the front screen and the possibility of unfolding and continuing the game on a larger screen with 120Hz. Furthermore, Samsung smartphones come with game booster technology that optimises gaming experience by focusing performance on the game while playing. The future of esports Online tournaments have become massive global events in the last couple of years. The esports industry will continue to grow over the next five years. Predictions say that online gaming revenue will reach $ 1.6 billion. We are yet to see the full impact of the pandemic on the industry, and there could be an esports industry world-rocking technological development just around the corner that might force me to rewrite this whole article. Right now, all we can say for certain is that the long-term prospects for professional gamers are looking better thanks to the integration of AI and that different teams rosters should be set to grow exponentially as the popularity of gaming and esports expands, alongside the ease of access into the hobby.


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