A game market analyst shares their insight about esports’ inclusion at 2019 SEA Games

The inclusion of esports as a medaled event at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, an international multi-sport event that will be hosted in the Philippines, was nothing short of a groundbreaking milestone, not just for the local scene, but for the entire thriving industry at large.

It’s the first time ever in history that esports will be celebrated alongside well-established sports titles such as Basketball, Football, and Baseball, among others. The Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC), in partnership with Razer, the event’s official esports partner, has announced Valve’s Dota 2, Blizzard’s Starcraft 2, Moonton’s Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Tencent’s Arena of Valor, Bandai Namco’s Tekken 7, and one more game from the console platform, as the list of games for the upcoming biennial regional multi-sport event.

To look further into the historic feat, Esports Asia Summit, an esports business-to-business-focused event, tapped Niko Partners, the first true analysts of the vast vast Chinese games market with expanded market coverage in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and India, for their insight about the inclusion of esports in the 30th SEA Games and its deeper meaning for the industry,

With $2.2 billion in PC and mobile games revenues generated in 2017, Asia-Pacific, the home of the SEA Games, is easily the world’s growth powerhouse of esports and gaming in general. By the end of 2018, the region accumulated over $66.2 billion, or 49% of the world’s gaming and esports revenues. With the 2019 SEA Games happening, Niko Partners affirms that these numbers are only expected to rise given the number of new marketing opportunities the event will bring.

“Esports is a great marketing channel, and most consumer products targeting people who are also gamers are trying to get their brands into esports… There is an opportunity now for the intersection of tourism and esports, opening up an avenue for tourism and travel companies to participate in esports. More opportunities are emerging as the sector matures, especially in terms of generating chances for non-endemic sponsors to cooperate with the games,” the analyst group stated.

They added that the addition of esports in an international sporting event like the Olympics or SEA Games will pique more interest from casual gamers or sports enthusiasts who generally have little to no exposure to esports contents. Though the tangible conversion has yet to be witnessed, the novelty around esports should be enough to bring in casual viewers.

Even after the announcement of the 2019 SEA Games, however, some people would still insist that esports is not a thing. A case in point was Alfons Hörmann, president of the German Olympic Sports Confederation. In a report published by Faz.net, Hörmann believes that ’esports does not exist, and will not be included in the Olympic program’.

Unfortunately, regardless of the 2019 SEA Games’ success, Niko Partners believe that there will always be detractors and arguments regarding the controversial topic and it’s unlikely to end any time soon.

“There will always be two or more opinions on any controversial topic that represents [a] change to big international events or activities that have long, storied history, such as the Olympic Games… However, even if esports is only a medal event in the SEA Games (and Asian Games) but not in the Olympics, that’s still a huge advancement for esports, because it represents a new level of acceptance that will only increase. Asia is the epicentre of esports globally and the fact that Asian sporting authorities are beginning to see esports as a mainstream sport constitutes major progress for the industry,” the company said.

Though the legitimacy of esports in the fields of entertainment market and sporting discipline has already been established given the presence of money, both in the aspects of tournament prize pools and sponsorship deals, and viewership, Niko Partners still expects the 2019 SEA Games to help broaden its reach.

As a testament towards the groups’ insight, a report published by Newzoo indicates that esports really is on the right path towards a brighter future. By 2022, the industry is expected to reach $1.8 billion, while its size audience size is expected to grow by 14% and reach 645 million people.

Furthermore, the organization also emphasized the national pride that comes with representing the country in an international sporting event. They recognized the countries’ efforts into developing systems to efficiently choose their national athletes, which often include political backing, better regulated and structured industries, and the development of younger talents.

“We expect to see more funding to train esports athletes and ecosystem development by government agencies and ministries, to ensure their esports team remains competitive,” Niko Partners concluded.

The 2019 SEA Games will be participated by 11 nations and about 10,000 national athletes. 550 events in 62 sports will be played throughout its opening ceremony on November 30, 2019, until its closing ceremony on December 11, 2019.