Once a niche market, esports is becoming a global phenomenon. Estimates are that it will become a billion-dollar industry this year with the potential to grow massively beyond that in the coming years. Indeed, China is already reporting that it expects to have an esports industry worth billions within the next few years alone.

Given those numbers and the capacity remaining for growth, it is abundantly clear that these big businesses want to claim a slice of the financial bonanza pie. That may sound somewhat callous, but there is no doubt that if esports were not likely to be significantly profitable, then these companies seeking to invest would be far less enthusiastic.

However, the benefits of this will be felt within the esports community in a number of ways. Prize money at tournaments can increase markedly as a result of a sponsorship deal with a big company, furthermore, having that name linked with the tournament can also significantly raise its profile, thus attracting potential other investors.

Original article can be found on esportsbets.com

Esportswear is evolving. The rise of livestreaming and franchised endeavors like the Overwatch League have pushed esports into the mainstream, and it only follows that merchandise would move away from simple jerseys and t-shirts into more trendy looks. In a nutshell, esports merchandise has transitioned from a niche into lifestyle wear. And part of that shift into the mainstream is due, in part, to the ease of access. Companies everyone knows are starting to stock up on their offerings, while less widely associated brands are making inroads into the space.

Original article can be found on frntofficesport.com

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the Prime Minister of Denmark has been very local about his love for esports and his support for Astralis. From congratulating Astralis for their victories to giving a speech at Blast Pro Series Copenhagen 2018, Mr Rasmussen has a constant source of motivation for the Danish legends.

In a Linkedin post by Steen L. Laursen, VP Communication & Brand, RFRSH Entertainment BLAST Pro Series, Astralis and Origen, Mr Rasmussen visited the RFRSH headquarters and interacted with the the Astralis players and addressed topics such as “esports strategy, role models, sharing of knowledge with all stakeholders from grassroots to institutions etc.” After his conversation, Mr Rasmussen played Counter Strike with the Astralis players.

Original article can be found on talkesport.com

China is the world’s largest games market. They are tops in both total gamers and revenue. China represents 31.1% of the global games market in terms of revenue. They are expected to further outpace the rest of the global gaming leaders over the next few years. China also has the most gamers worldwide. That number is expected to grow from 683 million to 878 million by 2023 which is more than 28% of the total worldwide gamer population.

Original article can be found on estnn.com

“Esports without a doubt can be considered sports.” Those are the words of the Polish president, Andrzej Duda. At a conference where eight Polish FIFA representatives were introduced to take part in the FIFA eWorld Cup 2019 by the president himself, he also gave a speech on why he thinks that esports could very well be counted as a sport. Various Polish sources have reported on this including cybersport.pl and TVP.info, and being a fluent Polish speaker myself, I have translated relevant sections for the Daily Esports audience.

The head of Poland seemed ecstatic about the select FIFA players competing on an international stage under the Polish colors at FIFA eWorld Cup. He claimed, “Young people, who are among the world’s best in something that is very modern today, is very important. It’s personal development but also a technical development on a world level.”

Original article can be found on www.dailyesports.gg

As we all know by now, the current TI champions got demolished by OpenAI around a week ago. Following this result, OpenAI was released to the public in order to experiment how will players be able to compete against it.

Players had two options to chose from. Either playing in a human vs bot match (5v5) or a cooperative game where some of your team-mates would be bots. With over 7000 competitive games played, OpenAI seems to be nearly unbeatable. It now has over a 99% win rate.

Original article can be found on estnn.com