Introduction
With the development of the gaming industry, growth of its target audience’s amount, and the spreading of the Internet, electronic sports are becoming more and more popular competitive activity. Electronic sports are often referred to as eSports or egames, and imply organized video gaming. The primary concept of eSports can be seen as a competition of teams against each other in tournaments for a prize, usually in the form of cash and a title. From this perspective, eSports are similar to traditional sports competitions.
The Transition of Games from Singleplayer to Multiplayer
The history of transferring games from a hobby to professional sports began in the 1990s. It is connected to the rise of the accessible worldwide web. The Internet has connected gamers; thus, it enabled competitive gaming and contributed to the growth of the popularity of games. Then, in 1997, the world’s first eSports event, the Red Annihilation tournament for Quake game was conducted and held about 2000 participants. A short time after this competition, a gaming league named Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) was formed. In 2017, the total Esports prize money amounted to $110.6 million from a total of 3765 tournaments.
Gamers used to compete playing through game consoles before the industry went online. Playing with another player via the same console offline is still a common way to have fun with friends and relatives living in the same place. It also enables to deepen into competition due to specific atmosphere complementing the process, which is also why many tournaments prefer to gather teams in one room adjusted for playing. In addition, few games do not support online multiplayer mode still. However, all the other benefits are attributed to playing games online. It is simpler to connect with people through the word via Internet, and more and more games have a well-functioning multiplayer.
The Discussion of Two Popular Multiplayer Games and Their Concepts
Background and Development of League of Legends
League of Legends is currently one of the world’s biggest eSports that emerged from the Warcraft 3 mod Defence of the Ancients. In 2005, Feak and Mescon created a company named Riot Games.After fours years, the idea of League of Legends came alive and became popular for both amateurs and professionals Free-To-Play game. This game is compared to DOTA, which has a similar concept. Currently, League of Legends counts millions of active players, hundreds of teams, and dozens of regular tournaments.
The concept of League of Legends and the viewer or gamer perspective
League of Legends is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), which is usually played with two teams consisting of 5 players. This concept enables the high competitiveness of the process and requires teamwork for the win.Each team has its primary building – the base and towers that are defensive structures. The objective of a team is to destroy the opponents’ main building. Isometric battle arena has three lanes, a jungle between them, and a river dividing the map between two teams. Gamers choose champions with unique abilities they will be playing for the next game. Depending on the champion, each player has a role they usually stick to for the benefit of team play. Gamers have access to the internal market, where they can purchase items that strengthen their characters for gold, which is earned for killing opponents’ champions and neutral enemies. Professional players try to fully express the strengths of their characters and not opponents to use their weaknesses, such and vulnerabilities to some form of damage, low health points, low speed, inability to buy artifacts fast, and others.
With respect to the viewer and gamer point of view, League of Legends has an isometric perspective for them both, as it is the most convenient for such type of strategy-like games. Viewers and gamers and switch between locked and free cameras and choose whether it is fixed on a specific character or not.The two differences between ones who watch the game and one who plays are the opportunity of the last to see through the fog of war through every champions’ “eyes” and the additional statistics. Simultaneously, players can only see what is revealed by their and their allies’ champions.
Background and Development of Valorant
Valorant is another popular Free-To-Play AAA game supported by Riot company. The genre of the game is tactical team-based FPS shooter. The game’s development started in 2014, and it was officially released in June 2020, after a closed beta period. This game’s producers were inspired by a series of shooters Counter-strike. What is interesting about Valorant is that Riot pays great attention to storytelling, making every of the game’s champions more than a playable character but rather a living person with their background and unique features. Even though this innovative game intended to gather the strengths of its close competitors has begun to grow activity not so long ago, it is already popular enough to be claimed as a future of multiplayer shooters.
The concept of Valorant and the viewer or gamer perspective
Valorant is slightly similar to League of Legends, as it is also focused on the competition between two teams. However, a broad list of differences confirms the uniqueness of Valorant’s concept. The goal of each team is to win 13 rounds, which is done by killing all the opponents’ champions (agents) or detonating the “spike” (bomb). The game can be compared with such tactical shooters as Counter-strike, Overwatch, and Apex Legends. All the playable characters have unique abilities that determine their role, which can be duelist (DPS class), initiator (intending to initiate fights), or sentinel (supports). After choosing a unique agent, there is a buy phase, during which players can buy guns and abilities, and then, a round begins.
Valorant is the first-person shooter that implies that a gamer does not see his own character but only the weapons he holds. During a game, a player does not track his opponents until they are visible for the agent they are playing for. However, while viewing a match, it is possible to see red figures indicating an opponent team’s agents, while the perspective stays the same (first-person). It is possible to make a camera free to have an overview of the entire battlefield without sticking to one of 10 players.
The Platforms to Play the Games, Selection of Characters and the Use of Avatars
It is possible to list all game platforms to provide an overview of what is actually can be used to play before proceeding to opportunities Valorant and League of Legends provide to their audiences. It includes: Personal computers (PC), consoles, mobile, virtual reality, arcade, television, web browser, and streaming.
The most popular and oldest platform to experience video games are PC, suitable for most games while enabling customization of a gaming place with different accessories. It is not surprising that both of the games are available to play via this platform. The mobile platform, including both Android and IOS based devices, is expected to support Valorant in the nearest future, while League of Legends is already available for gamers to download and play.
Riot Games company also promises to launch both their games via consoles in a year or two. It is possible that television is also can be used to play those games, for instance, with the help of the connected PC. However, it is likely that neither Valorant nor League of Legends will be ported to arcades or will be available to play via a web browser.
Speaking about picking characters in Valorant and League of legends, the system is the same for both games. All the player has a set of playable characters, more than 140 for League of Legends and 15 for Valorant. There is a specific order for picking champions or agents that depends on the mode of the game. For instance, in a regular game, a player can choose any hero at any time, if only it is not banned by others (every player has a limited number of votes to ban one or another champion). In a tournament or in certain game modes, teams pick a champion each by order. The only rule that is always must be adhered to is that it is not possible to pick the same hero twice. Basically, all these nuances are needed for the balance of the games and their fairness.
With respect to players’ avatars in those games, each player has an avatar of the champion/ agent they play for, known as summoner icon. They are used to determine who plays for a specific hero that enables to coordinate team play. Moreover, League of Legends enables players to use and customize their personal avatar intended to personalize a gamer’s profile for their convenience and a better experience. Avatar creator enables to choose among a broad range of facial features, hairstyles, and outfits. Although it is not essential for gameplay, it does influence the attractiveness of a game for players.
ESport Tournaments and Gaming as a Career
15 years ago, no one could imagine that playing games would become a lucrative career opportunity. About 80% of teenage girls and 95% of teenage boys play video games, and it reveals the close attention of the younger generation to the global eSports market. The other representative indicator of the industry’s potential is that it has grown to $1.9 billion by the end of 2018. Speaking about the earning of gamers, in 2015, four people made more than $1.73 million, while members of many other professional teams had more than $100,000 in income. ESports players earn money in prizes for winning events, advertising, sponsorships, and salaries. Although not many gamers make sums enough for living, with the maturing of the industry, so will be growing players’ incomes. There is only one way in eSports to become a valuable professional; it is to improve skills and to win. Then, there is a chance to join a team and sign a contract with its owner that will eventually lead to global tournaments and opportunities to win high prizes.
The above-mentioned eSports tournaments are competitions between two teams consisting of 5-6 players each. The most popular games to duel in are League of Legends, Overwatch, Fortnite, Dota, Valorant, and others. Most amateur and professional events cost about $10-20 to spectate or participate, while a ticket to the League of Legends Championships can cost up to $70. The prize or the jackpot for winning teams can vary from a few thousand to millions dollars. Such events take place around the world, including cities like Lo Angeles, San Francisco, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and others.
The Investing Companies of ESports and the Development of Mobile versions of the Games
The above-mentioned mobile devices are one of the platforms many games can be developed for or ported into. While League of Legends can already be downloaded as a mobile game, it is likely that Valorant will also eventually have its own mobile version, which is not even announced yet. Porting of games, which implies designing it for another platform, is associated with some challenges. For instance, the opportunities to control a unit via a phone are significantly restricted compared to PCs’ ones. Although Riot company managed to launch the League of Legends mobile version, it is known for being less convenient for players, and therefore it is not used widely for conducting tournaments. It is even the general approach of all the companies not to enable players using different platforms to play with each other to maintain the balance and fairness of the game.
Global eSports industry in one of many others worthy to invest in. It is expected that in 2021, its revenue will exceed $1 billion and will grow up to $1.8 billion in 2022, which makes gaming companies attractive for potential investors. Some of the investing companies (ones having esports stocks) are Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI), a video game developer known for Overwatch and Call of Duty, and the owner of Grand Theft Auto Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO). It is also can be recommended to consider Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) known for Apex Legends and FIFA and Roblox Corp. (RBLX) owning a platform enabling users to make their own games.
Conclusion
Currently, more and more people are becoming engaged in eSports as viewers or players, which makes the industry, which began as a casual hobby, grow to a huge market. With the spread of the Internet, multiplayer obtained popularity, making competitions, such as amateur and professional tournaments be world-class events with high prices. Riot company, the famous game developer, is known for League of Legends, MOBA game, and Valorant, tactical team-based FPS shooter. The common platform for playing those games is PC, but League of Legends has a mobile version, and both of the games are expected to be ported to a console. Playing games is a solid career opportunity now, as many professional players have high income due to prizes, salaries, and advertising. Some of the largest companies even have their own stock, which anyone can invest in. Predictably, the industry will be growing further, which brings to the conclusion that eSports will not only continue to be popular but will even rise in activity.
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