Get in the Game

Chapter 9Unbalanced: Opportunities in Game Viewing for Businesses

As was the case with opportunities in gaming, the leadup to discussing more general opportunities for integration in esports or streaming was prefaced with considerable background on the wider industry of viewing gaming content. The rationale for this approach is similar to that of gaming itself, although with some key differences. In the case of integrating with consumers who are either playing or viewing a game, a deeper understanding of a not well‐known ecosystem is of paramount importance for successful integrations—potentially more so in in the world of game viewing, which leans more towards “traditional” gaming sensibilities with a high valuation on authenticity. Both formats have additionally found it necessary to confront the complex relationship between the growth of the fandom and the economic realities of their businesses, with game viewing at a much earlier stage of maturation.

The case of esports diverges from gaming in that commercialization has always been a more open conversation within the industry since our cultural understanding of anything related to competitive entertainment has a wide palette of acceptability for featuring brand logos or other exogenous messaging. The “how” of this revenue acquisition has, however, become perhaps the most heated debate within the industry more generally, drawing battle lines between early esports proponents intent on keeping the grassroots and passion‐based ...