![]() It did well, with 6,000 teams taking part, 1m unique viewers and 10m channel views on Twitch. Last year, Psyonix ran competitions in three regions (Europe, North America and Oceania), with $600,000 in prize money. That requires a massive plan and a lot of infrastructure, but we're spending a good amount of time putting that in place." That way there is always an opportunity to play Rocket League and be a part of something. We want esports to feel more like little league or football, where people are playing at all levels, from childhood to the pros. "One of the biggest mistakes people make in esports is that they only focus on the smallest possible audience, the 50 to 100 people who are good enough to make a living out of it. That is something we are focusing on a lot. they want more opportunities for Rocket League to become a bigger esport. VP of publishing Jeremy Dunham adds: "The conversations we've had directly with players. Today we have several dozen community groups who are doing hundreds of online tournaments and events annually, so it has really ballooned up from the grassroots." It is that grass roots support that has made for a passionate community of tournament organisers and fans. "So Rocket League esports was very much born from the community. "Rocket League launched in July 2015 and immediately community groups latched onto the game and started to create tournaments," says Josh Watson, head of esports at developer Psyonix. ![]() ![]() It's no wonder NBC Universal is using the game in its efforts to develop a TV presence in esports. It's easy to follow as it is just soccer with cars, but also crazy enough that it can only be done in a video game. The car football game is the perfect title for mainstream sports. Most of the popular esports games are simply not appropriate to show in the middle of the day in a retail setting.īoth eventually hit upon the same answer: Rocket League. When UK retailer GAME launched its Belong range of stores (effectively local esports areas within a shop) it was faced with a similar challenge. The organisers wanted to demonstrate esports on stage, but were unsure over which game to use - violent shooters or densely packed MOBAs were just not suitable. Last year I attended an event about esports targeted at mainstream media and Government. Some are hard to follow, while the ones that are easier to grasp are often based on existing sports (such as FIFA or NBA 2K), and the nagging question there is why watch the virtual versions when you can see the real thing? The games are complicated, or violent, or both. Unfortunately, esports is not mainstream. Millions more watch football than play it - wouldn't it be great if that was also true of Call of Duty? The dream of seeing esports on the back pages of newspapers, taking prime time slots on Sky Sports and drawing in families around the world rooting for their favourite teams. Yet what these stories highlight is esports' potential within the mainstream. ![]() And as cool as it may be to see gamers at official sporting championships, these competitions are not suited to the complex nature of esports with all those different games. This is a modern sport, there's no need for BBC broadcasts when millions are watching on Twitch. In itself, these moments are not that important to the future of competitive gaming. The stories about esports going to the olympics, or airing on mainstream TV, are exciting.
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