While it’s true that the gaming world is thriving as a result of COVID lockdowns, from playing games to streaming and watching, it would be foolish for the esports industry to see this as ‘our moment’ given that this boom is only happening while nearly every other sports and entertainment product is on hold. No one actually knows what is going to happen in the next three weeks, let alone the next three months, and while it’s difficult to foresee what sort of environment we’ll be in for the remainder of the year, it’s important to think about what might be. Below are the five things I expect to see in the gaming and esports industry post-pandemic. Time will tell which of these come to be true.
1. Expect a sharp drop in viewership once the pandemic has passed
While the gaming and esports industry is experiencing exponential growth in terms of the player base, viewership, and consumption — Minute Media’s own platforms have seen an 80% jump in traffic month to month – there will be a significant decline in viewership for the months leading out of lockdown. This makes sense as live sports and other forms of entertainment return competing for fans’ attention. The sharp decline will worry some brands and investors, but the industry is likely to see the pandemic period as a point marking strong long term audience growth resulting from new fans continuing to consume gaming content and existing gamers increase their overall consumption stemming from this period.
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