Earlier this month, you may have heard about the International DOTA 2 Championship. The eSports competition was hosted by Valve Corporation in collaboration with ESPN. With the largest prize pool for a single tournament in eSports history, the winning team collectively took home over $6 million. Thirty million people streamed online as 7 gamers became millionaires that day, a turnout that would blow most major US sporting events out of the water. So it should come as no surprise that the most recent League of Legends Championship also sold out Madison Square Garden.
Competitive gaming is here to stay. And it’s making its way onto your phone.
If console and PC are any indication, eSports in mobile games has the potential to draw large crowds and pools of cash as well. After all, 1.5 billion mobile devices shipped last year, compared to 300 million PCs. And mobile game streaming app Kamcord is already rivaling Twitch and YouTube, with over 1.3 million people posting original content every month.
While many don’t think mobile can compete with the diehard followings of PC and console, mobile game studio Super Evil Megacorp is confident in mobile’s competitive potential. That’s why they partnered with the largest eSports company in the world and hosted the first official Vainglory Cup Series last May, attracting more than one million viewers around the world. Companies like Cashplay are also making their way into the mobile eSports space by partnering with major mobile games to provide head-to-head tournaments online. CashPlay says that their best players have already accumulated substantial earnings in tournaments, which is significant given that the majority of games are focused on $1-$5 prizes.
As competitive mobile gaming grows in popularity, and the number of mobile gamers surpass PC players, it will be interesting to see what other studios jump on board. We’re guessing it’s only a matter of time before games like Clash of Clans or Hearthstone make their way to the big stage.
What else we’re reading:
On-Demand
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Shuddle launches a new carpooling feature for kids, developed by mom engineers
Why Postmates is winning the on-demand food fight
Payments
Alibaba and Uber roll out ‘Mobile Dressing Rooms’
The new chip-equipped credit cards: Safer, and (for now) more confusing
Payments landscape shifting for retailers, leading to new opportunities
Mobile Apps
Is China attractive to mobile developers?
As mobile gaming stagnates, people are spending less time (and more money) playing games
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