How can you incentivize esports players to engage with your game?

1 Offer competitive modes and features

Esports players want to test their skills and challenge themselves in your game, so you need to provide them with modes and features that enable and reward competitive play. For example, you can offer ranked matches, leaderboards, tournaments, replays, spectator modes, and custom lobbies. These features will help esports players to track their progress, showcase their achievements, learn from others, and participate in events.

2 Support and promote the esports scene

Esports players also want to be part of a vibrant and supportive esports scene, where they can find opportunities, recognition, and community. You can support and promote the esports scene of your game by providing tools and resources for organizers, casters, teams, and players. For example, you can offer prize pools, sponsorships, partnerships, licenses, guides, and media kits. You can also promote the esports scene of your game by featuring and highlighting events, results, news, and content on your game's website, social media, and in-game channels.

3 Provide feedback and communication channels

Esports players appreciate when developers listen to their feedback and communicate with them regularly. You can provide feedback and communication channels for esports players by creating and maintaining forums, surveys, polls, blogs, newsletters, and podcasts. These channels will help you to collect and respond to feedback, share updates and plans, announce changes and fixes, and address issues and concerns. You can also use these channels to showcase and reward esports players who contribute to your game's improvement and growth.

4 Create and update esports-friendly content

Esports players enjoy when developers create and update content that is esports-friendly, meaning that it is balanced, diverse, and fun. You can create and update esports-friendly content for your game by designing and testing maps, modes, characters, items, and mechanics that are suitable and appealing for competitive play. You can also update esports-friendly content for your game by adding and removing features, adjusting and tweaking values, and fixing and preventing bugs and exploits.

5 Encourage and facilitate esports-related activities

Esports players benefit when developers encourage and facilitate esports-related activities, such as coaching, streaming, content creation, and community building. You can encourage and facilitate esports-related activities for your game by providing incentives, rewards, and tools for players who engage in them. For example, you can offer in-game currency, items, skins, badges, and achievements for players who coach, stream, create content, or join communities. You can also provide tools such as APIs, SDKs, mods, overlays, and analytics for players who want to enhance their esports-related activities.