Connect with us
Prague Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 (25-26 March)
728x90 banner available here

Latest News

What to expect from esport in 2019

Published

on

Reading Time: 5 minutes

 

Esports have grown to a massive industry in just the past few years, and 2019 is predicted to be even bigger. Many industry analysts predict global esport revenue to surpass $1.1 billion USD in 2019. Expected revenue breaks down as follows:

esports revenue 18

 

Obviously, this means huge tournament prizes and team earnings for competitors this year.

2019 Esport Games

We’re going to see game genres mixed up a bit more in 2019 esports. While RTS and MOBA games have traditionally been the most popular esport games, a handful of fighting and shooter titles are slated to be rising stars in 2019. Of particular interest are the rise of battle royale games, which we’ll touch on briefly.

The games anticipated to do most hotly in 2019 global esports are as follows:

Overwatch
Fortnite
Dota 2
League of Legends
CS: GO
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
PubG
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Clash Royale
Magic: The Gathering Arena

A dark horse also arose early in February, Apex Legends. Many of the 2019 esport predictions were made at the end of December 2018, or early January 2019. Apex Legends was released early February, with zero marketing behind it – Apex Legends literally came out of left field (American slang meaning “totally unexpected”, for you global readers).

The reason Apex Legends is worth mentioning is that the game hit 25 million players only a week after being released. It also became the #1 live-streamed game on Twitch, ending February with an average 217,997 viewers, or around 11% of Twitch’s total audience. This is no small feat for a game that was released completely unannounced into the wild west of the battle royale genre.

twitch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If Apex Legends continues the popularity trend, it could also become a hot item in 2019 esports.

Of course you see some old staples on the list of games. Dota 2 and League of Legends are certainly not going anywhere, being the most popular MOBAs on a global scale.

Also of growing interest are racing and sport games (oh, the irony of playing sports games in esports). There are a number of smaller esport leagues dedicated exclusively to racing games, such as the F1 eSports Series, and the GT Championships.

There is also potential for more indie and browser-based titles in smaller esport leagues. Mobile Esports, for example, partnered up with Blayze Games, the developers of the popular browser-based first-person shooter Bullet Force and offers tournament grand prizes of $500. Other popular browser games have good Twitch and Youtube stream followings – Slither.io for example has 17,307 followers on Twitch.

Indeed, this game could be a cool niche for the browser based esport racing scene. As for sports, games like NBA 2K and FIFA have serious dedicated leagues as well. Especially the latter, as many enjoy playing soccer games particularly in Europe.

2019 Esport Sponsors

A lot of global brands are getting into esport endorsement – in fact, just a few days ago Nike inked its first esport sponsorship deal, following the heels of Adidas and Puma (pun intended). This adds to the growing list of high-profile brands that are sponsoring esports. Esport sponsors fall into the categories ‘endemic’ and ‘non-endemic’. Endemic sponsors are companies that are related to esports in some way, such as selling PC hardware and other technology manufacturers. Non-endemic sponsors are companies that have pretty much nothing to do with esports, like Nike.

Many articles that list esport sponsors put food and drink companies in the “non-endemic” category, but I disagree. Brands like Chipotle, Mountain Dew, and Snickers are every bit as endemic to esports as Corsair, Intel, and MSI. Gamers gotta eat, and we’ve got a reputation for unhealthy diets, right? Other ‘non-endemic’ brands like Gillette, well… you know, some esports players really do badly need a shave. So it fits.

Here are the top non-endemic global sponsors for esports in 2018 / 2019:

  • Adidas
  • Gillette
  • Geico
  • Tinder
  • Mercedes Benz
  • Airbus
  • Nike

The top endemic global sponsors for esports in 2018 / 2019:

  • HyperX
  • Intel
  • Red Bull
  • Monster Energy
  • Mountain Dew
  • Alienware
  • Logitech
  • Corsair
  • Razer
  • iBuyPower
  • Twitch

Honestly I could continue, but it’s a pretty huge list and my editor will think I’m just filling word count. Check out Esports marketing blog, they cover this stuff more in-depth.

p and p

 

 

China Banhammers Like, Everybody
One thing of note is how China plays into the market – or doesn’t play in the market, to be more technical. While many analysts include China in their “global esport revenue” reports, China lately has been taking its ball and playing at home. The country has a massive esport scene that caters to native games, which are not seen on the international level.

China’s biggest esport game is Honor of Kings, also known as Arena of Valor on the international market. It’s pretty much been China’s biggest MOBA for awhile, and has expanded to the Asia-Pacific region. Honor of Kings was released internationally as Arena of Valor, but hasn’t seen the same success its enjoyed in China.

To add to this, mainland China also recently banned a number of highly popular esport games, while putting others on a “watch list”. It’s an effort from their Online Ethics Committee to crack down on ‘vulgarity’ and explicit violence in video games. The most popular esport games banned games in mainland China are:

  • PubG
  • Fortnite
  • H1Z1
  • Alliance of Valiant Arms

Here’s a full list of games that were either banned or put on a watch / review list in mainland China – you’ll notice a few Chinese games are also on the list, including Arena of Valor, the game I just said was China’s biggest esport draw. Tencent, the developers of Arena of Valor, actually skipped off to Hong Kong for laxer laws, tweeting “after everything we did for you 🙁 @XiJingpingreal”. Actually I’m making that up, they didn’t tweet anything. But they did skip off to Hong Kong.

game-reason-action

 

In any case, when you take into considering mainland China’s clamping down on mobile games for their “corruption of youth” potential, then it’s not hard to believe North America will once again be the largest esports market in 2019. America boasted esport revenues of $409.1 million in 2018, and I’m pretty sure we won the most esport trophies. What’s that? South Korea, you say? They don’t count. Their public education was replaced with MOBA training campuses years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m 99% positive these photos are from South Korean elementary schools. Prove me wrong.

 

Author: Katie Green


Source: Latest News on European Gaming Media Network
This is a Syndicated News piece. Photo credits or photo sources can be found on the source article: What to expect from esport in 2019

George Miller (Gyorgy Molnar) started his career in content marketing and has started working as an Editor/Content Manager for our company in 2016. George has acquired many experiences when it comes to interviews and newsworthy content becoming Head of Content in 2017. He is responsible for the news being shared on multiple websites that are part of the European Gaming Media Network.

Latest News

MOVEMBER X BLAST PREMIER OFFICIAL MENTAL HEALTH PARTNER PRESS RELEASE

Published

on

Reading Time: 2 minutes

 

Movember and BLAST Premier partner to improve mental health in esports

Movember will become the official mental health partner of BLAST Premier, a global Counter-Strike tournament series, in an exciting initiative to support the mental health of esports players and communities. Global men’s health charity Movember will work with the global esports entertainment company to develop awareness and support for mental health challenges, create psychologically safe spaces, deliver evidence-informed mental health workshops and undertake research to develop Mental Health Guidelines for the wider industry.

The partnership will see Movember and BLAST Premier commit to working together to promote good mental health and prevent ill-health amongst esports players and viewers/spectators alike, encouraging the community to take action and better support themselves and each other, officially launching at the BLAST Premier World Final in Singapore from 30 October – 2 November.

The World Final 2024 will see the biggest and best esports and Counter-Strike teams compete in Singapore across five days of competition for a sizable total prize pool of $1,000,000.

Ahead of the World Final, Movember joined BLAST Premier at September’s Fall Final to spend time talking to fans, players and teams. Movember hosted special mental health workshops in the lead up to the tournament with players and talent to better understand the challenges the wider industry faces with mental health. The iconic Movember barber shop was also made available for fans in the arena to get haircuts, while having an open and honest chat.

As part of these conversations and future focus across the wider esports sector, both organisations will collaborate to establish a set of Mental Health Guidelines, centered around lived and living experiences of players (ranked and non-ranked), designed to level up the impact esports has on people’s mental health with the aim of onboarding other organisations in the future.

Director, Global Innovations at Movember, Dan Cooper said: “This partnership between Movember and BLAST Premier is a significant step in highlighting the health challenges facing those in the esports community. We plan to do that in part by collaboratively building guidelines that will act as a set of foundational principles to protect esports players and support the creation of psychologically safe spaces.”

“The influence of esports is growing, our aim is to help transform how the community engages and prioritises mental health and in doing so takes proactive steps in Levelling Up, not only in performance but also positive health outcomes”

Faye Marlborough, Director of Growth at BLAST, said: “Esports has a huge influence on people all over the world, and through this new partnership we have already started to have industry-led discussions about mental health and deliver interventions in settings where esports players and the community spend their time.”

“We hope this partnership will help leverage Movember’s experience to equip our fans and community with best practices and approaches to dealing with mental health.”

 

The post MOVEMBER X BLAST PREMIER OFFICIAL MENTAL HEALTH PARTNER PRESS RELEASE appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Plaza Hotel & Casino announces first-ever New Year’s Eve Super Bingo event

Published

on

Reading Time: < 1 minute

 

Super Bingo participants can play and stay 5 nights for just $400!

Home to downtown Las Vegas’ only bingo room, the Plaza Hotel & Casino will hold Las Vegas’ first-ever New Year’s Eve Super Bingo event, Tuesday, Dec. 31 and Wednesday, Jan. 1.

For this inaugural New Year’s Eve $160,000 Super Bingo, participants can play and enjoy a 5-night stay from Sunday, Dec. 29 through Thursday, Jan. 2 for just $400, with no resort fees. Super Bingo players also receive as a bonus $20 in free slot play.

Upcoming Super Bingo event dates in 2025 are Feb. 3-5, March 3-5, April 7-9, May 5-7, and June 2-4.

Held in the Plaza’s ballroom, Super Bingo draws nearly 1,000 people from across the country and as far away as Hawaii and Canada for the opportunity to win big playing fun-filled games of bingo over two days, with a $50,000 super coverall both days while socializing with like-minded bingo players.

Rooms for the event are limited. Registration is available online at https://www.plazahotelcasino.com/bingo/super-bingo-registration/ or by phone at 702-386-2318.

All Super Bingo players receive one 6-on paper pack for both days, two daubers, free drinks via an open bar at all sessions, and boxed lunch both days.

The Plaza’s Bingo room offers six daily bingo sessions at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5A group of people sitting at tables Description automatically generated.

 

The post Plaza Hotel & Casino announces first-ever New Year’s Eve Super Bingo event appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Brazilian Ministry of Finance and IBIA sign sports betting integrity agreement

Published

on

Reading Time: 2 minutes

 

The Brazilian Ministry of Finance and the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) have signed a sports betting integrity cooperation agreement. It will allow both parties to share information concerning suspicious betting activity connected to Brazilian sport and collaborate on any investigations.

The agreement brings together the governmental body responsible for ensuring that the Brazilian market is legal, safe and reliable, and the largest international betting integrity monitor for private operators in the world. Leading industry data and intelligence company H2 Gambling Capital has forecast that IBIA will cover more than 70% of the Brazilian remote gambling market.

According to ‘The Availability of Sports Betting Products: An Economic and Integrity Analysis’ study published earlier this year, the new sports betting regulatory regime in Brazil is projected to create $34bn in sports betting turnover by 2028. With this increased growth comes a greater responsibility to protect customers, sports and betting operators from match-fixing.

A key element of the new Brazilian regulatory framework is the requirement that operators seeking a licence must join an independent sports integrity monitoring body. This licensing requirement is helping to strengthen IBIA’s capacity to monitor, assess and protect betting transactions in Brazil’s regulated sports betting market and maintain the integrity of Brazilian sporting events.

Regis Dudena, Secretary of Betting and Prizes, said: “Cooperation with IBIA will add to SPA’s work in combating the manipulation of sporting events. And together we will mitigate this problem on a global scale.”

Khalid Ali, IBIA CEO, said: “IBIA is delighted to have reached this agreement with the Brazilian Ministry of Finance and welcomes the government’s increased focus on creating a robust sports betting integrity ecosystem to tackle match-fixing. Collaboration and information sharing are key to the success of this ecosystem. Under this agreement IBIA will identify and report suspicious betting on Brazilian sporting events to the Ministry of Finance to support investigatory actions. That will include detailed customer account data that is only available to IBIA and its members.”

Frederico Alves Soares Justo, General Coordinator of Money Laundering at the Brazilian Ministry of Finance, said: “For the Secretary of Prizes and Betting to sign this agreement with IBIA is the certainty that we are on the right path to curb the manipulation of results. We will make the most of the experience that IBIA has in monitoring the betting market to create mechanisms that curb this practice that undermines the credibility of sport and the betting market. It’s a partnership in which everyone wins.”

IBIA is a globally recognised non-profit organization that seeks to safeguard the integrity of the sports and betting sectors by fighting betting related match-fixing and fraud. It provides a free integrity monitoring service to sports governing bodies, regulators and law enforcement agencies that, importantly, is also free from potential conflicts created by the provision of competing commercial services, enabling all parties to efficiently and effectively cooperate in investigating, prosecuting and deterring sports betting related match-fixing.

IBIA monitors over $300bn per annum in betting turnover across more than 125 sports betting brands globally, making IBIA the largest betting integrity monitor of its type for private operators in the world. The association’s unrivalled access to detailed global customer transactional data has, and will continue, to play a pivotal role in protecting the Brazilian sports betting market and sporting events from corrupt activity.

 

The post Brazilian Ministry of Finance and IBIA sign sports betting integrity agreement appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

EveryMatrix

Advertisement
300x250 banner available here

Facebook

Trending

EEGaming.org is part of HIPTHER, parent brand of various prominent news outlets and international conferences. These platforms and events span a wide range of industries, including Entertainment, Technology, Gaming and Gambling, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Quantum Technology, Legal Cannabis, Health and Lifestyle, VR/AR, eSports, and several others. This indicates that EEGaming.org is part of a larger network that focuses on a diverse array of sectors, particularly those related to cutting-edge technology and modern lifestyle trends.

Contact us: [email protected]

Editorial / PR Submissions: [email protected]

Copyright © 2015 - 2024 HIPTHER Agency. All Rights Reserved. Registered in Romania under Proshirt SRL, Company number: 2134306, EU VAT ID: RO21343605. Office address: Blvd. 1 Decembrie 1918 nr.5, Targu Mures, Romania

We are constantly showing banners about important news regarding events and product launches. Please turn AdBlock off in order to see these areas.