Esports Final Report

Click here to access the permanent Tampere University repository for the report.

Download the report directly here: Esports Project Report

During the past five years, the activity of watching others play competitive video games has seen a tremendous amount of growth. According to popular estimates, esports has been a rapidly growing part of the entertainment industry, and the global esports audience in 2017 was estimated at 335 million people, with 143 million being active spectators. Esports revenue is currently estimated at $906 million, with estimates predicting a growth to over $1600 in 2021. Contemporary live esports events have become increasingly popular and often attract tens of thousands of attendees at tournament locations, simultaneously attracting online spectators by the hundreds of thousands for individual events. In 2017, an estimated 588 major esports events were organized. The spectatorship of games also has ramifications outside of just competitive gaming or esports, with other modes of spectating, such as YouTube let’s play videos and other game related video content becoming extremely popular which all are revolutionizing the economics and culture of the media landscape.

For this reason, the Gamification Group (Tampere University) and its industry partners set out to investigate this phenomenon through a Business Finland -funded (project number 40009/16) project; “eSports” (3/2016-1/2019).

The esports project investigated, on one hand, why people choose to consume esports & game streaming content, what motivates them to engage with platforms such as Twitch and YouTube, and how future behavior can be predicted. On the other hand, the project investigated the culture and business of individuals and influencers who create this content. Moreover, a phenomenon that has evolved quickly in tandem with esports & game streaming is the increase in game-related gambling, both direct forms such as esports betting, and methods employed by a variety of companies to aid with monetisation, such as loot boxes.

We have a limited number of physical copies available, so if you would like a copy for your company or university library, get in touch with us at either max.sjoblom@gmail.com or gamificationgrp@gmail.com.

Cite the report as:

Sjöblom, M. (Ed.), Hamari, J. (Ed.), Jylhä, H. (Ed.), Macey, J., & Törhönen, M. (2019). Esports: Final Report. Tampere University.