How (or if ) esports affects engagement with the
underlying videogame is only one of approximately a
bajillion questions which could make use of Lewis and his
team’s expertize. As if to illustrate that, there’s a second
initial project, this one investigating consumer behavior in
the industry, so how systems like rewards, levelling up
and gaining community status affect purchasing behavior.
I wonder if I should volunteer my quest for a dinosaur-
themed cosmetic in Dota 2 as a case study?
A better understanding of how an esport relates to the
game it’s based around obviously has the potential to
impact business decisions of companies like Hi-Rez. For
Harris, the research is of
interest for two reasons.
One is Hi-Rez’s own stake
in esports as part of its
business. The other is that,
via Skillshot, they are
hoping to provide a service
to other publishers with
esports scenes.
A white paper outlining the partnership’s first findings
is expected in the first quarter of 2019. Harris tends to
speak with the expectation that the research will bear out
the idea that esports is good for a game. But there’s always
the chance research can throw up unexpected
conclusions. What happens if the results run counter to
publishers’ esports intuitions?
Harris points out that Hi-Rez only makes competitive
games and its staff members are big fans of esports so
there’s a personal investment as well as a business one.
“So really, regardless of what the research comes back
with we don’t see ourselves decreasing our investment.”
Outside esports-savvy communities there’s a tendency
to refer to esports as if it’s a monolithic entity rather than
a diverse set of communities, game genres, commercial
structures and teams. I ask Lewis how he is treating the
idea of esports and how it’s broken down into areas.EXAMINING ESPORTS
“This is an interestingly phrased question,” he says. “One
of my challenges in this partnership has been trying to get
my head around the big picture of esports. In traditional
sports, a lot of fandom behaviors can be tracked back to
how leagues organize themselves. I do a lecture in class
talking about levels of
control—you have sports
ranging from the NFL with
hard salary caps, revenue
sharing, amateur drafts to
the wild west of
professional boxing. The
key point is that the way a
sports category works (and
how consumers behave) can usually be understood based
on how the league is organized.”
The variety in the esports sector and the data available
mean Lewis is choosing to focus the team’s research on
trying to understand individual behavior at a fundamental
level. This means starting from first principles in terms of
consumer psychology and taking loose hypotheses to the
data. “But, I will always be very up front in terms of what
I don’t know,” he adds. “To me [it still looks] like a vast
and expanding landscape. It’s one of the things that makes
this an exciting partnership.”
Philippa WarrFAR LEFT: Talking
team tactics.LEFT: Fans’
emotional
investment in esports
can be huge.THE RISE OF ‘SPORTS’
We’ve all heard of esports but ‘sports’ are now on the up
RUGBY
Rugby is a
live-action
metaphor. It speaks of the
importance of gathering
eggs for one’s social group,
then incubating them in a
nest of powerful thighs.GOLF
This alleged ‘sport’
began as a mod for
the older ‘sport’ of
sword-fighting. Players
would slash away at an
opponent until one of them
fell into a big hole.SOCCER
Invented in 1953,
soccer is played
with the feet. It was
rebranded from football to
‘soccer’ in 1994 when socks
became mandatory after an
outbreak of verrucas.“WE’VE ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT
WATCHING ESPORTS HELPS OUR
GAME BUSINESS”