Gaming Weekly #3 - Free Reports, CS2 domination? & Game Releases
I’ll be speaking at the Sports Tech World Series Conference next week in Aus & launching our yearly free esports & gaming report! Details HERE.
This week we have Twitch’s Head of Games Bill Young contributing!
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Free 60-Page Yearly Esports & Gaming Report, With Added AI!
1,700+ downloads on our 2022 report - here comes our free 2023 edition! The 2022 report covered esports & gaming market data with added discussion on Blockchain. With 31 experts giving their insight onto trends and where the hype should be directed.
Chris’ Thoughts:
Very keen to show you the 2023 report, this time pushing 60 pages! Curated & managed by Thomas from STWS, once again brought around by myself and sponsored by Tipalti - An $8.3B payment processing prover that serves clients like Riot Games & Roblox.
Last year’s report touched on the over-hyped nature of Blockchain & NFTs, esports seeking alternative revenue sources & some interesting companies to watch.
This year we still provide strong insights on gaming & esports, with a wrap-up of blockchain results and the added hype of AI. You can expect to see some great insider data & trends + companies to watch from our massive panel of industry experts from companies such as Activision Blizzard, Luminosity Gaming, Astralis, Esposure & more.
Poll: Will Counter Strike 2 Explode Interest?
Poll: Will CS2’s release bring in a large viewership spike? Vote here
CS:GO’s last-ever major was BLAST Paris and had the 3rd-highest peak viewership in the game's history with 1,528,724 concurrent viewers.
Chris’ Thoughts:
Most new hyped titles will explode in viewership and then pull back to a baseline over time. How long will this last & will the new baseline sit higher than before?
A negative example of this is Overwatch 2, which exploded in viewership and quickly rescinded back as the public refused to adopt the new game as king.
CS:GO’s peak event was soon post-COVID with 2.7 million peak viewers, with player numbers performing very strongly recently - 30-day average peak concurrent players peaked in May 2023 at over 1M.
领英推è
Gerry Sakkas (PlaySide CEO) impresses me with his ability to judge new game releases, so I asked him to comment on the poll: “I think it will have a small increase maybe. But in order for it to maintain that or grow the (esports) industry, they’d need to bring even more new casual fans into the game. But I feel like CS has one of the hardest / steepest learning curves due to how good the player base is. It’s extremely punishing to pick up and fight even the worst current player playing the game.â€
At the time of writing the poll has 313 votes with 51% saying the viewership will be the same. There’s still plenty of time to vote!
Guest: No, October’s Game Schedule Isn’t Crazy
gamesindustry.biz says the release schedule for October is not overcrowded and that the current release schedule is not as crowded as it used to be in the past. They state the indie game boom has resulted in hundreds of games launching on services like Steam on a weekly basis.
Bill’s Thoughts:
Yes, we've seen busier...the article points out 2008 as evidence of that. But this Fall is very, very crowded and noisy. And remember, video games marketers - you're not just competing against the other new releases...you're competing against the games we're already playing (and those still on deck).
You're also competing against games with lengthy play times that were released earlier this year. You're competing with Diablo 4, Baldurs Gate 3, Tears Of The Kingdom...hell, you're competing against Dave The Diver!
Just a friendly nudge...you do with that information what you will...but if you're on the fence with activations in support of new releases this Fall (paid or unpaid), I would consider erring on the side of action.
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