European Gaming News

How Esports Broadcasters Decide What You See

Published

7 years ago

January 31, 2018

How Esports Broadcasters Decide What You See

Gunfire, spells, commentators talking a mile a minute, momentum shifts, plays you can literally miss by blinking: there’s so much going on during esports events that there’s hardly any time to spare a thought for what’s going on behind the scenes, let alone what’s happening right in front of your eyes.

Observers aren’t as immediately noticeable as commentators, but their role in esports broadcasts is equally important. In short, they’re responsible for much of what you see on screen during matches. They follow the action, pick which moments to focus on, and try to make visual sense of the chaos. I spoke to professional Counter-Strike and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds observer Heather Garozzo about what the job entails, and she explained that, first and foremost, it’s about crafting a story—even if that means viewers don’t always get to see the Hype Action Moments as they happen.

“An important thing that I’ve learned is you don’t need to see every kill on stream, because not every kill matters,” Garozzo told Compete over the phone. “Some are more important than others, and it’s all about telling a story. So I purposely forgo showing some kills because I want to stick with the narrative of the round.”

Figuring out what exactly that narrative is and massaging it into something that’s legible in real time is the hard part. Sometimes, it’s a matter of having done your homework and understanding the tendencies of players in the matches so you’re observing. Garozzo used CSGO player Fernando “fer” Alvarenga as an example, explaining that he has an uncanny ability to get behind the other team’s offense while he’s on defense. “Even though maybe he’s not getting a ton of kills, he’s putting all this pressure on the team to make a move,” she said. Garozzo, then, makes a point of keeping an eye out for those moments.

In her two-and-a-half years as a professional observer, Garozzo’s found that even moments that should be exciting can fall flat if the camera doesn’t do them justice.

“One of the things Reddit will call you out on the most is, if there’s a two-versus-one situation, you want to put the camera on the one guy left standing because the team with two is expected to win that round,” she said. “They have the advantage. So if they get the kill, it’s not as exciting. It’s like, yeah, sure, they were expected to win that round. Let’s move on.”

If, however, the camera is following that one lucky (or unlucky, depending on your perspective) player, they transform into a scrappy underdog and an audience darling. If they overcome the odds and down two or three enemies, then that’s easily the moment of the match. “You really want to give the camera time not necessarily to the player that has the best chance of getting the kill, but the best chance of making a game-changing play,” Garozzo said.

Depending on which game Garozzo’s observing, she could also be working in tandem with anywhere from one to eight other observers, though CSGO—the game she’s most experienced with—typically employs a two-observer system. One person tracks the match as it’s happening while the other acts as the “delay” observer, scanning the kill feed to pick up on big moments the main observer might have missed.

“For example,” said Garozzo, “if FalleN gets three kills and I, as the main observer, only had two on the stream, the delay observer will be able to package those three together because they’re in the game server, but on a 10-second delay. Then they get those three kills together, and then that’s what you see in a replay at the end of the round.”

That’s only the tip of the communicatory iceberg. Garozzo and her co-observer also have an ongoing back-and-forth with matches’ commentators who, in turn, inform Garozzo’s choices about where she ends up pointing the camera. “We narrate for them, and it’s a two-way street because sometimes the casters will see something, and they’ll say, ‘Hey, I wonder what’s going on in the B bombsite,’ so we need to make sure we take that cue and switch over there and show them that,” she said.

Then there’s the production staff, who Garozzo and her team are connected to through a technical director. The technical director and production staff create and switch between multiple points of view both in and out of game. Sometimes that means cinematic pans over the map before a match begins, while other times that might mean shots of the players or the audience. Observers have to let them know when games are beginning so that viewers don’t miss crucial opening moments.

Once games begin, however, observers mostly have the reins. For Garozzo, a former pro CSGO player, that means entering a mental zone similar to the one she’d go to while competing.

“I try to tune out everything besides the caster’s voice, because that’s the most important thing,” she said. “Eliminate all these other distractions because there’s a lot going on, especially in the production room. There can be 50, 100 people coming in, players, fans sometimes passing by too. It’s about eliminating distractions and just making sure you’re truly focused in on what’s important, just making the most interesting stream for the audience.”

Recently, Garozzo’s started observing PUBG matches as well, and that’s a whole different animal. At the second big PUBG tournament, which took place at IEM Oakland and featured 80 players on stage at once, Garozzo worked with eight other observers, an experience she described as “too much.”

“There’s yelling because you’re competing with everyone else, like, ‘Hey, I’ve got a kill; I’ve got a kill; I’ve got a kill. We’ve all got kills going on on-screen.’ Whose is the most important? It’s hard to know,” she said.

Garozzo, though, thinks that confusion partially arises from a lack of standard practices in PUBG’s still-nascent esports scene. She hopes to play a role in creating that game’s particular visual language, though she acknowledges that it’s an uphill battle with a circle closing in on all sides.

“I want to try different things, and that’s why I’ve that I worked events with two people, four people, nine people because I want to help to find what this is,” she said, adding that she hopes to also work with some of the people who’ve been running online tournaments as well. “I’d love to collaborate with what they know versus what I know from large stadium production events to figure out how we can make this as great as I think Counter-Strike is.”

Source: European Gaming News

Related Topics:latest news from the industry

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Prague Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 (25-26 March)

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European Gaming News

Could the Gambling Commission ban wagering requirements?

Published

2 years ago

September 13, 2022

George Miller

Wagering requirements; whether you love them or hate them, with the Gambling Review well underway, there’s never been a better time to debate if they still have a place in modern gambling and whether the upcoming review will ban them once and for all. But first, let’s look at their development and why they are a contentious issue in the industry.

What are wagering requirements?

Wagering requirements are a common term and condition attached to a bonus that prevents players from taking a promotion and withdrawing it immediately. They are applied differently by each gambling brand. Some, like PlayOJO, Paddy Power, MrQ and Betfair, have revolutionised the casino scene by offering no wagering bonuses. In contrast, others take the predatory route and list bonuses with up to 100x requirements (the average is around 30x).

The requirement is the amount a player must wager at the casino before any winnings made with a bonus are valid for withdrawal. In the case of a £100 bonus, a 30x requirement would mean a player must wager a total of 100×30=£3,000 before they could withdraw any winnings. Most players would easily decimate their winnings before fulfilling the condition and, as most bonuses expire within 7-14 days, may well be forced to play for periods, or at times, they otherwise might not.

Why do wagering requirements exist?

In the early days of online casinos, bonus hunting among players became widely popular. It led to forums where players shared information on where and how to profit from the best welcome bonuses, earning money from the available offers available and never playing at a site again.

As casinos began to notice players taking bonuses and withdrawing without using them fairly, they combatted the practice with wagering requirements and other terms, such as the ability to withdraw a bonus and any winnings made if an account was suspect of this activity.

However, with no limits or official licensing rules to regulate wagering requirements at that time, things soon got out of hand as operators set high limits that were and still are unattainable to most players. Additionally, in many cases, the terms and conditions were not clearly displayed or explained, leading to the confiscation of bonuses and winnings without players understanding how or why they’d fallen foul of the casino’s rules.

Wagering requirements under fire with UKGC

By 2014, and following a flood of player complaints, the Gambling Commission weighed in, creating the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act which prescribed operators were to advertise their bonus terms and conditions clearly and explain them to players. This led to some reducing their requirements to more feasible levels. However, not all operators followed suit, hence why we’re still discussing wagering requirements today.

More recently, in February 2022, the UKGC set its sights on reforming wagering requirements again, issuing new guidance regarding fair and transparent terms and practices, which acknowledged that wagering requirements could lead to excessive play, not in line with social responsibility rules for operators.

The new guidance rules cited that licensees used potentially unfair terms, with examples including:

“terms that allow licensees to confiscate customers’ un-staked deposits
terms regarding treatment of customers’ funds where a licensee believes there has been illegal, irregular or fraudulent play
promotions for online games that have terms entitling a licensee to void real money winnings if a customer inadvertently breaks staking rules
terms that unfairly permit licensees to reduce potential winnings on open bets.”

It also stated that the Commission was aware of:

“terms and conditions that are difficult to understand
welcome bonus offers and wagering requirements which may encourage excessive play.”

While the guidance did not contain rules for abolishing or limiting wagering requirements, they instructed licensees to review their terms and conditions to ensure they fit consumer protection laws and that; “The LCCP requires rewards and bonuses to be constructed in a way that is socially responsible. Although it is common practice to attach terms and conditions to bonus offers, the Commission does not expect conditions, such as wagering requirements, to encourage excessive play.”

Will wagering requirements be banned?

With the Gambling Review white paper currently overdue and keenly expected by all industry stakeholders, many wonder if it will cover wagering requirements or, more specifically, exclude them from casino practice. The Gambling Review aims to update the 2005 Gambling Act, fit for the modern age, and wagering requirements would undoubtedly slot into the remit of what’s being discussed, which includes greater player protections and affordability checks.

While it’s clear that some big-name operators and affiliates like No Wagering are pioneering the way in bringing zero wagering bonuses to players, many sites have not followed suit. This is despite clear evidence that players favour fairer bonuses (PlayOJO is one of 39 brands operated by the same parent company, it is the only one with zero requirements, and it’s the most successful of all, according to the company).

Realistically, we’re not sure that the new gambling regulations will ban wagering requirements completely (as we covered earlier, they do exist for a reason), but it certainly wouldn’t be beyond the imagination for there to be a maximum cap applied in the view that excessive requirements equate to excessive play.

What’s next for operators and bonuses if wagering requirements are banned?

Bonuses are one of the most important factors for players in picking between casino sites, and they make players feel lucky to score something for free straight off the bat (even if the wagering requirements mean this is not really the case).

If wagering requirements are banned, operators unwilling to offer bonuses without wagering requirements will have to return to the drawing board and reimagine rewards, especially welcome offers. Alternatively, they could begin competing based on other USPs, such as focusing more on the casino product to pull in the punters by offering unique games, making space for indie developers, having instant withdrawals, or gamified loyalty benefits and better loyalty clubs.

Moreover, it would present a fantastic opportunity for remote operators to move away from the tired system of matched deposit bonuses towards more exciting and fresher ideas like promo wheel spins, mystery gifts on first deposits, prize draws and so on. With brands including PlayOJO, Paddy Power, MrQ and Betfair already doing this, operators do not lack a blueprint to success, just the gumption to embrace a new model.

Bulgaria

Betway Bulgaria officially launches, offers live and bet-builder options

Published

3 years ago

March 22, 2022

George Miller

Another company has officially launched its activities in the growing niche of online betting in Bulgaria. But here we are not just talking about another operator licensed by national institutions, but about a leading brand worldwide. Betway is one of the largest bookmakers in Europe and globally, and the fact that it already offers its services in Bulgaria speaks positively about the development of the gambling business in the country.

Indications of an increase in the size of the industry appeared last year, when several operators received a permit to operate under Bulgarian jurisdiction. It is unlikely that this process will end with the official launch of betway bulgaria, rather the brand entering the country can be perceived by international operators as a positive assessment of the market in Bulgaria. What can we find at Betway besides the obvious – increased competition and of course more choice for consumers?

What do we find in the sports section?

Sports betting – this is the leading sector of the company, which started operations in 2006. The brand is associated with a number of teams in Europe such as Tottenham, Atletico Madrid, Leicester, Alaves, Belenenses, Werder, etc. Of course, the top championships in Europe are present in the latest betting platform, but that’s not all. Betway offers the opportunity to make predictions at less popular UEFA championships. The fans of the Bulgarian championship have options too. All matches of the First League are present in the bookmaker’s menu, and are offered with dozens of choices for each of them.

Real-time bets and long-term combinations

Live bets are a big thrill for many players. This option is present at Betway, and this also applies to the mobile version, of course. It is not difficult to detect current events – they come first when loading the platform. And with them the bookmaker really comes up with interesting offers, some of which are rare on the Bulgarian market. The outcome of the bets become clear in literally seconds if the next goal market or one of the performance options is selected.

In addition, the company accepts predictions with a much longer horizon. It is now standard to bet on who will be the champion in England, Spain, Italy or Germany. However, there are also specific markets and selections for certain teams – will Barcelona take the trophy this season, will Liverpool reach the final in at least one of the tournaments in which it participates, etc. And if users don’t find what they’re looking for in these offers, they can always turn to the betting menu. The bet-builder is still limited to one match, from which we can choose two or more selections until the desired odds are formed. This is the most appropriate way to optimize the bet according to personal preferences and therefore it is increasingly preferred by the players.

Betway’s first steps on the Bulgarian market are impressive. And this is just the beginning, we can expect even more in the near future.

European Gaming News

EveryMatrix inks RGS Matrix agreement with Wild Boars

Published

4 years ago

August 25, 2020

Zoltan "Hawkie" Tundik

EveryMatrix announces the second RGS Matrix partnership with Wild Boars, newly launched gaming studio that aims to bring creative storytelling and a fresh feel to the gaming industry.

Launched in 2019 as EveryMatrix sixth standalone solution, RGS Matrix enables gaming development teams to distribute, manage, and report upon a proprietary game product portfolio.

This ‘out of the box’ remote gaming server was built on an open architecture and caters for outstanding player experience, consistent deployment, and quicker content integration.

Mathias Larsson, Managing Director of RGS Matrix, says: “This is our second RGS Matrix agreement and it brings me a lot of joy to know that our solution starts gaining momentum in the market. Our remote gaming server aims to help the new generation of game builders by providing all the means to create, design, distribute and manage games.

“The team of Wild Boars is experienced, skilled and highly creative. I am looking forward to seeing their games live and appreciated by players in many countries.”

Oleksandr Yermolaiev, Managing Director of Wild Boars, comments: “We truly believe that choosing a right partner is crucial for success. For us, RGS Matrix and its remarkable team is just that partner. We are excited to use EveryMatrix solution, focus on what we do best and bring our innovative games to a wide range of operators, territories and players. RGS Matrix is dashing ahead and we are happy to join the ride.”

RGS Matrix powers slots and table games, and is currently certified for Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Romania, and Colombia, with many jurisdictions to come in the upcoming years.