Hey there. Recently I have been surfing though the internet and had encountered an amusing pic.
I laughed for a while and then it stuck me – I new the game industry accumulate enormous pile of money, but lately it has became ubiquitous and keeps growing, engulfing new gamers in its nets.
Game industry evolved with the evolution of complement equipment – PC, consoles, Youtube (don’t You think that video service played enormous role in it?), Twitch (another famous video streaming service) etc. Now the market is so big, that it attracts both content consumers and producers easily. Just some facts:
- 155 m americans play games
- 51% of americans have game console. Not a PC, but game console.
- Gamers are young? Laughing in your face: average male – 35, average female – 43.(source: http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ESA-Essential-Facts-2015.pdf)
Industry growth encourages both game producers (EA Sports, Blizzard, Konami etc), but also producers of complement content, namely streamers – PewDiePie makes 12m dollars a year overviewing and streaming games. (source: http://forbes.net.ua/lifestyle/1403890-zvezdy-youtube-ckolko-mozhno-zarabotat-na-videobloge).
But what I’ve become amazed by is the game contests. It’s something truly mind-bogling: Huge orcs stampeding over the venue, Metallica playing US anthem, thousands (literally) acolytes waiting for the final round etc. It becomes gorgeous show, surpassing NBA finals many times.
Performance like this make gamers all over the world to stick to their screen with mouths opened is awe. Everyone wants to become a pro player and get an invitation from the Blizzard. Making comparison with Nobel prize, here everything is crystal clear and comprehensive. I don’t want to blame Nobel nominations, but winning a Nobel Prize in an age of 70 for a topic You have been developing for decades (Angus Deaton) or even sadder story with John Nash – it does not encourage to become a Ph.D. 🙂
Whereas in cyber sport everything is more prosaic: if u kill more enemies, collected more points and completed the quest faster then others – You are “Nobel Prize” winner.
Prize pool? well, it’s fabulous:
- Hearthstone – 250 000$
- Starcraft – 1.6 m $
- Fifa 2015 – 15 m $
- Dota2 – 18.5 m $
In conclusion i want to stress out – the industry is bursting and individuals as well as companies pour huge sums of money to soar it even further. What is the effect on players: more interesting projects and chances to participate in tournaments; for streamers: endless opportunity to create content; for scholars: it’s never too late to start playing DOTA 2 🙂
P.S. If You mother tells You to stop playing games, because You would never achieve anything in your life – just give her a link to this blog…