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The esports industry has grown tremendously in recent years, in comparison to its early days.
After it started out, some regarded it as bearing semblance to sports culture. However, its growth has seen it become an established sector in its own right. Some would say technological innovations have played a key role in the industry’s growth, whether it’s the rise of streaming technology, better connectivity and more. The industry’s popularity has also caught the attention of online casino platforms. Additionally, corporate types have also tapped into the industry’s potential for marketing purposes.
Technological Advancements Inspiring the Growth of Esports
Many technologies have been instrumental to the industry’s growth. Here is a handful:
Faster Internet Connections
Availability of high-speed internet is among the factors that have accelerated the growth of the esports industry. Competitive multiplayer games, from Halo to CSGO, and the gaming experience in general, has been made more effective by high-speed internet. Moreover, the arrival of 5G networks will also aim to make mobile gaming more efficient.
Back in the day, a normal internet connection was insufficient for decent gaming. We can remember using a dial-up modem to play World of Warcraft, for example, which resulted in a gaming experience that was significantly affected by lag. However, gameplay has become more seamless with a faster internet connection. Moreover, increased connectivity globally has also led to growth in the worldwide esports audience.
Smartphone Penetration
Studies have confirmed that smartphone penetration has also helped the mobile esports industry grow. Smartphone manufacturers have availed more affordable devices; hence more people can buy them. This trend, coupled with low-cost data costs, has boosted mobile gaming, by allowing gamers to buy a high-end gaming mobile without sacrificing camera, display quality and other features.
This trend has pushed prominent gambling sites in Thailand to develop mobile platforms for their users. Moreover, smartphone manufacturers have started developing smartphones optimised for mobile gaming.
Better Gaming Hardware
Several hardware upgrades have helped the esports industry grow. For instance, processors, input devices, monitors, mobile devices and audio systems have played a key role in the industry’s growth. Without them, we wouldn’t have systems capable of running high performance games.
While some games like League of Legends aren’t power/graphic-intensive, hardware improvements have helped to boost the gaming experience overall, helping to take esports to the next level. And it’s fair to say that in general, thanks to improved hardware, gamers can now enjoy more immersive gaming experiences.
Cloud Gaming
Cloud gaming has the potential to transform how gamers enjoy games. The technology, in theory, eliminates the need for gamers to buy expensive gaming hardware, with some tech heavyweights working on their cloud gaming systems, such as Google Stadia.
The systems allow players to enjoy their favorite games on low-end devices as long as they have a fast internet connection. This technology eliminates the need for expensive gear or downloads that take forever. However, it hasn’t proven hugely popular, with many gamers sticking to their trusty PC downloads or console games, and reports of cloud gaming not being as reliable connection-wise as good old ethernet via a PC or console.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence has emerged as one type of technology in the esports industry. We’ve seen pro players go up against AI teams in experimental matches, and some players and teams are using the technology to improve their gaming strategy. For example, FalconAI offers AI-powered solutions in a bid to help esports players enhance their abilities in games like League of Legends.
AI technology can also pave the way for data-driven judgments to be made by analysing and watching esports competitions.
Final Thoughts
We’ve seen the commercialisation of traditional sports and that has somewhat served as a model for esports, which has attracted many different brands into the space.
Esports has seen its share of innovative projects over the years, including tech projects like Weavr, which worked on creating new audience experiences for esports fans (using AI, 8K, VR, AR and more) and we’re sure we’ll see other innovations and tech in the future.
It seems esports will keep improving over time thanks to technological innovations, whether it’s new services, game development and graphical advancements, innovation at events, on streams and more.
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
