The volume of the esports market is $612 million,” SuperData claims in its research.
In the photo: esports competition in Cologne
Most of this money comes from China and South Korea.
Esports has been a widespread and popular phenomenon there for a long time. The Asian market owns a share of $374 million (61%) of the total market volume.
North America is in second place. The size of the local esports market is $143 million. Europe with $72 million is in third place. SuperData believes that in the near future the balance of power may change – thanks to projects such as Riot Games and Wargaming.
The analytical firm shared statistics on the demography of esports players. Their total number is 134 million, about 87% of them are men. Half of them are under 35.
Almost 90% buy at least one game per month.
The average amount that esports fans spend on games every month is $200. Of this money, 44% goes directly to the purchase of the title, and 32% goes to in-game purchases. For the rest, they buy near-gaming devices.
The most popular genre of esports in the USA is first-person shooters (52%). Sports games (18%) and MOBA (16%) are next by a large margin. The most viewed franchises were Call of Duty (28%), League of Legends (9%), Halo (8%) and Madden (8%).
The main idea that the company’s analysts adhere to is that esports is not a way to instantly increase revenue. This is a long-term marketing strategy. Investing money in prizes, streams, and so on pays off only over time – by increasing the loyalty of players.
Marc Merrill, co-founder and president of Riot Games, agrees with this. Over the past two years, the company has spent about $10 million on prizes in cyber competitions.
“We lose a lot of money on esports. We are currently supporting it in order to increase profitability in the future… If we increase the value of the game for our players, they will reward us by staying in the game,” Merrill notes.
A source: http://venturebeat.com
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