What are the best practices for developing an esports game with a long lifespan?

1 Define your core gameplay

The first and most important step is to define your core gameplay, which is the main mechanic or loop that drives your game. Your core gameplay should be fun, challenging, and rewarding, and appeal to your target audience. It should also be easy to learn, but hard to master, so that players can improve their skills and strategies over time. Your core gameplay should be the foundation of your game, and everything else should support it.

2 Balance your game

Balancing your game means ensuring that your game is fair, consistent, and diverse. You want to avoid situations where some characters, items, or strategies are too powerful or too weak, or where some outcomes are too random or predictable. You also want to provide enough variety and options for players to experiment and customize their playstyles. Balancing your game requires constant testing, feedback, and updates, and you should always consider the impact of any changes on your core gameplay.

3 Support your community

Your community is the lifeblood of your esports game. Your community includes your players, viewers, commentators, streamers, sponsors, and organizers. You need to support your community by providing them with tools, platforms, and incentives to interact with your game and each other. You should also listen to their feedback, suggestions, and complaints, and address them accordingly. You should also foster a positive and respectful culture within your community, and moderate any toxic or abusive behavior.

4 Create compelling content

Creating compelling content means adding new features, modes, maps, characters, items, or events to your game that can keep your players interested and excited. You should create content that adds value and depth to your core gameplay, and that suits your game's theme and style. You should also create content that can generate hype and buzz for your game, such as seasonal or limited-time events, or crossover collaborations with other brands or franchises.

5 Optimize your performance

Optimizing your performance means ensuring that your game runs smoothly and reliably on different devices and platforms. You want to avoid issues such as bugs, glitches, crashes, lag, or hackers that can ruin your game's quality and reputation. You should also ensure that your game has a low barrier of entry, meaning that it can run on low-end or mid-range hardware, and that it has a reasonable file size and download time. You should also provide options for players to adjust their graphics, sound, and controls to their preferences.

6 Market your game

Marketing your game means spreading the word and attracting new and existing players to your game. You should use various channels and strategies to promote your game, such as social media, websites, blogs, podcasts, videos, or newsletters. You should also leverage your community and influencers to create user-generated content and word-of-mouth referrals for your game. You should also participate in or host esports tournaments and events that can showcase your game's competitive and entertainment value.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?