Where can we watch and follow the next big thing in gaming and sports? A guide to all those interested in watching and following eSports.
“Watching somebody play computer games, sounds stupid, why would you do that?”
It may not make sense to some, but the data doesn’t lie. eSports is at times, bigger than ‘real’ sports.
Want to be part of the 205 million strong crowd? Of which 40% don’t actually play the games they are watching and has grown by 100% in the last two years.
Yes, it requires a lot less physical activity, but the decision making, reflexes and team-work are all incredibly important throughout the games that are becoming the pillars of the eSport community.
Twitch
Now owned by Amazon for a reported $970 million, Twitch has become a global heavyweight in the gaming and eSport industry. both the Android and iOS apps are fantastic and equal to the website’s functionality. Personally I stream broadcasts from my phone to my Chromecast to watch on a bigger screen. Hey…it’s better than TV right?
Although there are always the official eSport channels, don’t neglect the broadcasters themselves. There are typically two types of broadcasters on Twitch:
- Those who typically play one type of game (or just one game) and tend to be incredibly knowledgable, happy to “teach” and completely immersed in that gaming world. These are easily found as they will typically have consistent broadcasting times on their channels.
- Those who are known by their personalities and play various genres of games and many different games overall. These will typically have the largest followings on Twitch, and tend to be bigger names within the YouTube community too (think PewDiePie)
If you are still unsure of the size of Twitch, the statistics in 2014 were incredible.
16 billion minutes watched per month, 100 million unique viewers per month and 1.5 million unique broadcasters per month.
YouTube
With the loss of Twitch to Amazon in 2014, Google/Alphabet started developing YouTube’s live-streaming capabilities and importantly, created the YouTube Gaming website and app. This is built specifically for those interested in watching gaming specific content such as Let’s Plays and reviews (however…currently the only games that are popular with live-streaming is Minecraft and those rare eSport tournaments).
Major League Gaming
Now being a big Smite fan, I was recently drawn to watch the XBOX championships on Major League Gaming’s website.
The Android and iOS apps (while not as pretty as Twitch and YouTube Gaming) gives you all the content you could want from the professional eSport world.
Azubu
Azubu is not a website I have used frequently, but I know it’s worth a mention due to it’s popularity within Korea (and specifically League of Legends). Recently undergoing a makeover and currently in beta, Azubu is looking to become a competitor to Twitch by focusing on eSports only.
Mobile gaming
Gaming on your mobile, surely there is no sport in that? Maybe not quite yet, but the popularity of games such as Clash of Clans and Minecraft continues to rise, and with the MOBA, Vain Glory, about to break into the mainstream gaming community, I wouldn’t be surprised mobile eSports became a popular niche in itself.
The two biggest players in this market are Mobcrush and Kamcord.
Is it on TV?
Honorary mention to both the BBC in the UK and ESPN in the US, which have shown eSports content in the past.
Where is the best place to keep up to date with eSports?
News
Oh Reddit my old friend, Reddit is the best place for discussions, news and (opinionated) information from the hardcore fans. Find the main subreddits and you’ll be good to go!
- League of Legends — www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/
- Hearthstone — www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone
- CS:GO — www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/
- Smite — www.reddit.com/r/Smite/
Instant eSports — described as the “one stop shop for eSports fans”, it provides news, scores and stats for League of Legends (coming soon: CS:GO, DotA 2, and Hearthstone). Download the app on iOS and Android.
Strafe — Download the app on iOS and Android.
theScore — Android and iOS. The website is pretty useful too.
SBNation — Sports website owned by Vox Media (Polygon, The Verge, Recode), SB Nation has recently started being involved in eSport news. Although it’s few and far between, as the sport grows I imagine these future-facing media publications will be the first to be involved.
How long until Buzzfeed is included?
This was inspired by Jonathan Pan’s eSports Market Ecosystem Map — March 2016.
That’s everything I have for you now. This post was a daunting amount of research and information. But one I not only made for everyone, but for myself.
Give it a recommend if you found it useful in any way.
:)
