It has been a little while now, since I have seen people being positive within the esport industry. In a time where a lot of negative comments are made about “evil” companies infiltrating esport, forcing their ways to the poor gamers, pro-gamers kicking their managers and where the esport community is splitting up, we should all be more positive and see what kind of bright future esport has. We should all see that even if those companies are here in order to make profits and assure their own future, they are also helping the scene and bringing with them their experience, their marketing and managing know-how and the cash that is so needed! Let’s be positive!

Be positive, the companies are coming:

Coca-Cola sponsoring wnv-Gaming, McDonalds handing out free WSVG passes; the US Army investing $2 million in GGL to reach the American youth. These are quite some big names, and I have to admit that a couple of years ago, I would have never believed I’d see that so soon. Electronic sports are part of the fastest growing industry in the world, video games. This is an important fact; it means that the more attention video games get, the more attention we will get. The interest of such companies is not only good for esport, their success or failure will be a catalysing step for the success of esports. If the goals of Coca-Cola, McDonalds or DirecTV are achieved, then esports will have a bright future. On the other hand, if it doesn’t work out, we could end up going a few steps backwards.

So what should we do? Well the solution is simple, support those companies. Of course they are here to get a return on their investment; this is what companies do (heck, the whole word does), economy rules the world. But despite that, they are also an important help to the esport scene. If it works for them, others will follow, so it is essential that we help out those companies. I am not talking about blindly following them like good sheep, but give them support and suggestions. If something is wrong in one of CGS tournaments, we should let them know, like any business jumping into a new venture, they will listen to the actors already in place. We can make the difference, but we have to do it now!

DirecTV has shown that they are also listening to what gamers have to say and that they are ready to act upon it if it is reasonable. Their Championship Gaming Series, with a $5 million payroll, are in the hands of gamers such as Jason Lake or Kat Hunter. If that is not a sign that they also want to please the existing community, what is it? Those people are easy to reach, and giving them suggestions is a 5 minutes job. Just help them, and we will get something close to what we want, but be ready to accept new things.

Be positive, we already have role models:

Electronic sports would not exist without the players.  I think many of us have heard of the recent fight between SK.Deadman and his manager Ownischt, I will not talk about this case, but I think that this represent the kind of bad publicity that esports does not need at the moment. If we are to be a sport, I think it is fairly safe to compare ourselves to something as recent as extreme sports. We are in a similar situation, where we are trying to reach out to the masses, and this will not be done with rebels (who, although interesting for some companies, are very difficult to market), but with role models.

One of the main reasons behind the rise of extreme sports to the level we know now is that most of the articles about them have shown role models who were always ready to show that extreme sports are all about the respect of people, environment and a sane way of life. We have all heard of Tony Hawk, Dave Mirra or Kelly Slater; and I cannot remember hearing or reading bad things about them. Instead we know Tony Hawk as a person that shows respect to everyone and that has helped his community. In 2002 he created the Tony Hawk Foundation to assist low-income communities in the creation of well-designed skateboard parks, which gave one million dollars to those poor communities.


But the fact is (and that is something we should be very proud of), that we already have role models. Rafik “LoSt-CaUzE” Bryant is a player who I believe is such a role model. We all know his Quake 4 skills, but he also has donated over $25,000 to charity and plans to open a LAN Centre in South Africa with the focus on education. This is extremely good publicity for esports, although the earnings of most pro-gamers are not high just yet, some of them are willing to give away a good part of it to help their peers.

Another obvious choice would be Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel he is a good example of how an esport athlete should act. A sound mind in a sound body, Fatal1ty has shown that like any athlete, a professional esport player needs to be a good role model and shows the world that esports have professionals. And this way of life has lead him a lot further than any other esports athlete. The 26-year-old player won approximately $500,000, has appeared on prime time television (60 minutes) and national newspapers such as Time, The New York Times, Forbes, and the BBC World Service. Models such as Wendell or Bryant are personalities that make me feel that esport are on the good way and that we should be positive.

Be positive, we already know it can work!

One word: Korea. We all know the success of esports in Korea, they are on television, huge crowds are filling up stadiums to see the elite of the StarCraft scene play. Some of those elite players have six figures salaries accompanied by half a million members fan clubs. And this is something that should reassure everyone. Of course Korea is a different culture, but we should all realise, with the recent improvements we have seen and the interest of the previously mentioned companies, that esports have the same potential all over the world. Koreans themselves believes that, with time, the world will catch up and overtake them when it comes to esports, we will see those big leagues, fan clubs and the six figures salaries, we just need to give it time, and to be less impatient.

If there is one thing we can all be positive about, it is that esports will grow and flourish. We all need to accept that in order to evolve, the esport industry will have to go through changes; and accept the new companies that are coming. We needn’t be afraid of those changes, instead, we should encourage them, make our suggestions and try to act like professionals. Not all is bad in the changes esports are seeing at the moment, they are opening itself to a wider audience and getting more attention. This is something we can all be happy about, to finally see our favourite industry be successful.