The world of eSports is constantly developing in order to meet the high expectations of the players who participate in it on a daily basis. Their demands get bigger every single day and the only logical response is to introduce new improvements in the sector. The various developers are also striving to keep up with the progress in the industry which is happening in real time. In order for this to happen, the only step which has to be done is to raise the popularity of the events and make them even more appealing to the participants.
As it is known eSports has already been added to the schedule of the 2022 Asian Games and many experts are convinced that the phenomenon is going to be included in the 2024 Olympics. This only comes to show how influential competitive gaming actually is and the impact it has on the lives of so many people involved in it. Namely, the huge popularity of this field is what guarantees the impressive revenue rates every single year. For example, many experts well-acquainted with the eSports industry predict that by the end of 2017 the field will be able to amass almost $700 million. This is a 41 percent increase in comparison with the rates which the industry reached in 2016. In addition to this impressive jump in the revenue, it is expected that by 2020 the industry will reach $1.5 billion in overall revenue since the number of online gaming platforms is becoming larger in the recent years.
Innovation in the Field
Competitive gaming is a field which rapidly attracts attention not only among players, who are the foundation of the sport and who established it to the industry it is now but also among the big corporations which are interested in branching out and see how the new markets can accept them. The idea of implementing blockchain in the industry is not a new one. Since the two industries are fairly new they collaborate in a more meaningful way, even though the regulation in both of them still leaves something to be desired. When it comes to this, the government is still not very strict about the regulation and this is probably why many new companies are exploring the many possibility the blockchain technology has to offer.
Online gaming platforms which provide players with a vast variety of content such as Steam were some of the first warriors defending the new blockchain technology and working for its popularization in the sector. The successful online gaming platform introduced the blockchain-fueled work process to its users with the implementation of bitcoin as a way for them to pay for their purchases. Among the benefits listed for this move was that this will guarantee the safety of the players’ funds as well as it is going to offer a safer environment where people can operate with the content. The market is expected to go in the direction of tokenization and some braver visionaries even go as far as suggesting that all customizations and purchases of content will eventually happen solely with the use of cryptocurrencies.
FirstBlood
It has been more than a year since FirstBlood launched in the eSports industry. The company is openly advertising itself as the first competitive gaming company which is utilizing the potential of blockchain technology in its ventures. The company is trying to return the power back to the players in the industry and grant them with more possibilities to operate with their money. This could be easily achieved with their efforts to create a decentralized eSports reward platform which has the potential to bring participants together. All the vital information regarding the interactions on the platform, such as the match history, smart contracts, and rewards based on the activity of the players, is safely stored on the blockchain so that it could not be lost.
For the first twelve months of its operation, FirstBlood has amassed more than $5 million, managing to conclude its Initial Coin Offering over a single day. Players from all around the world have the chance to play, compete, wager, and earn various rewards for their activities. For the moment the platform hosts Dota 2 and it attracts the attention of many participants. It is known that the company is working on establishing connections and adding Counter Strike: Global Offensive, FIFA 18, Hearthstone, League of Legends, and Call of Duty in the foreseeable future.
Gilgam.es
Another example of the independent approach towards the industry is Gilgam.es which is a company developing its own platform for eGaming. Though it the players will have the chance to make their own profit while playing and interacting with other players. The first step towards success is the purchase of GGS tokens for play, which could be used in all of the games supported by Gilgam.es. Then these tokens are being sent to smart-contract of the game the player has chosen to play. The winner in the game then proceeds to collect the tokens of all other participants. Gilgam.es Ltd. has recently conducted its first Initial Coin Offering which boosted the development process and the project is expected to enter its beta stage by the end of 2017.
Each match will feature its individual smart contract and the platform also gives the players the chance to bet on the end results, as well as the winner. Something which should be taken into account is that the company is going to utilize the advancement of technology and implement Artificial Intelligence in its platform. In this case it will not determine the winner, but it will instead confirm that a given team has won and as the time goes, it will develop the ability to detect and ban cheating players – one of the biggest problems in the eGaming community. The company is also going to feature a set of gaming titles similar to the offerings of FirstBlood.
Eloplay
In the last two years Eloplay has been taking the market by storm with its presence. However, the developers are only now introducing the Blockchain technology to to their users and they are doing it in a unique manner. The team has invented the so-called “smart tournaments” which feature decentralized prize pools which are amassed by the players themselves and, in some case, by the sponsors of the given tournament. The Eloplay platform also gives the players the chance to bet and it gives vital information for the participants, such as gamer stats. Advertising is also well-developed in the environment of Eloplay.
