Tag Archives: potential esports

VR will eventually matter in esports, but not this year.

Today’s podcast episode is an attempt to explain why I think that esports and VR wont mix until 2017 at the earliest. Even then, considering the games that could be called major esports right now, it’ll be difficult to create meaningful VR gameplay interactions without resorting to segregating VR games from non-VR games, at least on a competitive level.

And shoutout to critical thinking skills that a growing number of fans apparently lack: the Drone Racing League is not an esport simply because it features VR headsets and you should feel bad if you think it is.

First details of Overwatch’s player progression hit as the beta returns.

The wait is over: the Overwatch beta has returned and it came with a roughly 5GB patch that included new maps and game modes. I don’t think I have a beta invite yet, so I’m watching my email inbox hoping that I’ll see a nicely formatted message from Blizzard saying I’ve been invited to the Overwatch beta.

The patch isn’t the only thing being released today, PCGamer published an interview with Overwatch manager Jeff Kaplan about the game’s player progression system. A couple of key bits from his responses:

“As you gain levels—and there are unlimited levels, we don’t have a level cap, you can always gain levels—each time you gain a level, we give you a loot box. Inside the loot box there can be four items that come out of it,” he said. Loot box items are randomized, and each item has a rarity level: common, rare, epic, and so forth. And, he emphasized, they are all purely cosmetic.

Blizzard saw what happened to CS:GO and made the choice to not turn their first competitive FPS into a game that facilitates underage gambling and scams. A smart move from Blizzard. The random drops described as part of the progression system only affect the game in a cosmetic capacity, just as skins do in CS:GO. Unfortunately, as the loot drops are tied to leveling up, the player level mechanic ends up becoming more of a potential style meter more than anything else.

For duplicate item drops, a system is in place that allows players to exchange a duplicate item for credits to, in turn, directly purchase cosmetic unlocks from an internal storefront. The obvious money grab from this style of exchange system is to allow players to buy credits using real-world money. For now, Blizzard remains non-committal about selling credits:

“We haven’t made any philosophical decision of whether or not we will ever [offer credits for purchase], or not do that. I think right now, the biggest question we want to answer, when the beta comes back up next week is, ‘Are the loot boxes fun? Do people like the items?’”

With the beta coming back after a hiatus of nearly two months, I’m not sure if players are going to be able to critique anything for at least the first week (with the exception of Internet cool guy @oPlaiD because he’s pretty smart). I do predict that this beta cycle is when we’ll see Overwatch’s key community figures become integral to the scene, as well as impactful competitions between the game’s first esports teams. There’s plenty to look forward to.

It’s just too bad my account doesn’t have beta access.

A few suggestions for future editions of the EMEM.

This post is a response to Esports Market Ecosystem Map — January 2016 and originally appeared on Medium.

A few suggestions for future editions of the EMEM:

  • “In-Game Items Economy” should simply be called “Gambling” to avoid confusion with API-based services and… well… gambling. Additionally, I feel that it should be further scruitinized to gambling sites that allow for underage gambling and those that verify their users’ ages. Maybe it could be split between “Gambling” and “Illegal Gambling” for good measure.
  • Move Reddit from the “Reporting” category to a new category named “Authoritative Shitposting.” Pretty straightforward. Especially since Reddit mods for popular subreddits like to follow their cold, dark hearts and confidential conversations with publishers instead of adjuicating content based on a subreddit’s rules. (Okay, fine, not all subreddit moderators are horrible people, but they do some pretty dumb things in the name of “community management.”)
  • The list is missing fighting games. When the final rounds of a grassroots tournament for a fifteen year old game draws about 100k concurrent viewers on (nearly) a monthly basis, it’s time to start including it in a top tier. Also Capcom called, and it wanted me to ask you if you thought Street Fighter V was chopped liver. And while you’re at it, consider adding Shoryuken to the “Reporting” category.
  • Mobile games aren’t so much about competition, they’re about profitability. If Vainglory makes the cut as a ‘game to watch’ on your chart, I’m pretty sure you’re missing at least ten other more profitable properties that could reasonably claim to be a realistic, viable top-tier title in the mobile world. Clash of Clans comes to mind before Vainglory does. Furthermore, Vainglory’s not even listed in the Top Free Games on the App Store at the moment. There’s an officially licensed Yahtzee app that is listed at 27th on the Top Grossing Games chart right now; Vainglory is at 132nd.