The esports industry has brought about a new form of athlete – one who is not only agile with their fingers and thumbs, but also able to think quickly and deal with different scenarios at lightning speed. Competitive gaming is constantly evolving, though, and soon the attributes needed to compete may change.
Indeed, with mainstream virtual reality on the horizon, there’s a strong chance that there will soon be a rising number of VR eSports games. If this happens, then the requirements needed to be an expert at these titles may be drastically altered.
Esports Industry Is Evolving
The esports industry is one of the fastest growing sectors out there. It barely existed at the turn of the 2010s, and now it’s worth more than $2.13 billion, according to a report from Grand View Research. Competitive gaming is constantly attracting more massive companies with sponsorship deals, along with spectators who want to watch the sports. On top of that, being an esports player has become a viable career path for people who aspire to be the best in the business.
The fact that there’s a bustling betting industry surrounding esports further shows how far it’s come in such a short space of time. Betting sites like Betano offer betting in esports, with bettors now able to wager on all sorts of games and competitions, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive among others. Sites like these typically only integrate such events as long-term offerings when they’re able to demonstrate amassing broad and sustained appeal, so the acceptance of esports into peripheral markets like these shows there’s confidence in the industry’s future.
Aside from the growth of the industry itself, there has also been rapid progression in how the games are played. As the games have become more detailed, and with more advanced mechanics, players have had to adapt and refine their playing skills in different ways. When VR comes along, it could be the most disruptive upgrade to esports yet.
The Physicality of VR Gaming
The whole concept of VR is to put people inside the games, where they are made to feel as though they are a living character. Currently, players only typically don a headset when they step into VR worlds, but there’s been a lot of focus on developing haptic technology — covered in more detail by IDTechEx — that will allow people to feel their surroundings in the games. There could feasibly come a time when people put on full haptic suits as standard and play the games on multi-directional treadmills that allow them to move about.
If all this comes to fruition, it will lead to a brand new set of skills needed to play the games. Players will need to train like traditional sport athletes, as the VR titles will require much greater physicality. This may mean that regular sports stars who have excelled at games like soccer and basketball could have a chance of transferring their skills to VR esports.
If this comes to fruition, it could create a divide within esports, with VR games branching off into a new subgenre. This would allow the current stars to continue with traditional esports, alongside a new breed of players who are better equipped for VR games.
It will be interesting to see how VR is integrated into the esports industry, and how great the changes will be. Players should be prepared for this evolution, though, as the technology is expected to be massive.