eSports market booming, but still room for more growth

Monday 19th of March 2018

eSports global revenue for 2017 was estimated to be US$696 million and is expected to more than double to US$1.5 billion by 2020, with the Asia Pacific heading growth, according to Newzoo, a market intelligence firm.

Asia Pacific accounted for 51 percent of global eSport enthusiasts in 2017.

“It seems like its growth is never going to stop doubling. It’s still exceeding our expectation,” said Richard Moore, business analyst at Pinnacle for whom e-Sports is the 6th most popular product.

In 2017, Alibaba Sports Group owned by internet giant Alibaba, announced a $150 million investment with the International eSports Federation (IESF), the South Korea-based federation that has long campaigned for the inclusion of competitive gaming in the Olympics. Recently it was announced that eSports will be an official medal sport in the 2022 Asian Games in China.

So far eSports gaming is still mostly made up of micro transitions and casual betting said Hai Ng, co-founding partner at Neomancer at a panel on eSports at the ASEAN Gaming Conference in Manila

And there’s still opportunity for growth into new markets.

“One community which hasn’t been sported is the fighting games like Street Fighter.”

What’s needed now is attention to developing the product for a savvy audience.

“You need to have a reliable product. eSports customers know what they want,” Moore said.

Interactive Gaming Sports Betting Growth ESports Revenue forecasts