5 minute read
Challengermode
Robel Efrem CEO & Co-Founder
Empowering the future of esports by building competitive infrastructure from the ground up.
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Website: www.challengermode.com Contact: partner@challengermode.com
he crowd of people claiming that esports is not a “real” sport seems to get smaller by the year.
As more and more impressive events are hosted, as the prize money and viewership is surpassing that of traditional sports, and as professional gamers start to look more and more like athletes in traditional sports, most people have realized that esports is a cultural force to be reckoned with. And yet esports is still a very young industry growing so quickly that almost no one seems to be able to keep up. The challenges and problems the industry is facing are growing as fast as the opportunities it enables. T
Esports today vs. esports tomorrow But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Let’s get back to basics: It’s worth remembering that esports are not one thing. Many games that are played competitively as esports are night and day from each other and new genres will continue to emerge. Because of this, there’s a lack of standards and reliability. Some even question the applicability of the word esports itself. But consider for a moment a sport like Snooker compared to Snowboarding, they have very little in common with each other but are both sports nonetheless. When you have people competing in an activity and watching it, why not call it a sport? Granted, esports may evolve to look very different in the future, as will computer games (VR anyone?), yet we can be quite sure that people will continue playing competitive games (for fun or profit) and developers will keep creating digital games for many different platforms and technologies, some of which we can’t even imagine today. The point is that regardless of which kind of games make it as esports in the future, or what technology we use to play them, a few basic things are always going to be needed – and are needed – for them to thrive as (e)sports and for players to be able to compete and invest in them, reliably and easily. We believe the following aspects are vital:
1. Esport as a societal phenomenon must get widespread acceptance among the public and among governments on a national/regional level.
2. Esports needs solid competitive infrastructure, built for hundreds of millions of players - not just a few thousand - that enables: a. Any organizer or company to easily create, host and scale up esports competitions at every level and in a standardized way, especially online. b. Current and future game developers to make their games easily accessible as an esport to not just gamers, but also organizers, brands, broadcasters, and audiences for the games to reach their full potential as esports.
3. Competitive gamers and aspiring esport athletes need a reliable and accessible way to take their hobby to the next level. To those that are willing and able, there must be a clear path to the top. Gamers must have the ability to turn into Athletes.
4. Esports as an ecosystem must enable its constituent stakeholders to monetize each other and external stakeholders in a non-zero sum way, which in turn grows the ecosystem as a whole, sustainably.
Challengermode’s project as a company is to solve for 2, 3 and 4. 1 will be accomplished as a result, and from generational shifts. This is why we have built one of the most scalable and automated competitive gaming platforms to date. The platform and its apps are solutions to the challenges of running large-scale esports competitions and for gamers and organizers to participate in and/ or organize around esports. Through this (and many other projects), it’s our mission to structure the esports scene from the ground up.
Making esports truly accessible We started Challengermode to provide a more accessible competitive gaming experience to regular gamers. As we’ve grown alongside the industry in recent years several new challenges and opportunities have emerged. In particular, we are intent on empowering non-organizers to become organizers with little to no effort, and regular gamers to compete at a skill level that is appropriate to them. By bridging the gap between the non-professional and professional esports worlds on the one hand, and traditional PC-based esports and mobile/console based esports, on the other hand, we want to bring digital esports infrastructure into the 21st century.
Built for game developers, brands and tournament organizers, the Challengermode esports platform - available across multiple devices - is connecting a disjointed esports ecosystem from the bottom up. To this end, we’re inviting anyone who wants to scale up their esports efforts to join us on this journey of making esports truly accessible, paving the way for the next generation of esports competitions, games and athletes.
It’s a non-exclusive, commission based service aimed at helping to facilitate and nurture the right business deals and partnerships globally across the industry.
Finding the right information, people and opportunities inside and outside the esports space has now become much easier. Bringing together esports and other industry thought leadership so that you don’t have to do it yourself.
The ESI Connect sits in between current esports rights holders and companies seeking to do business the right way, without all the hassle. Acting as a media house, translator and mentorship group, the ESI Connect will evaluate what you seek to do, propose the best fit, initiate the right contacts and support you in the delivery of your plans.
UPCOMING EVENTS EVENTS | MEDIA | NEWS | CONNECT Taking place at Nixon Peabody LLP, Los Angeles , where we will award the class of 2019. 10 JUNE 2019
HALL OF FAME
FORUM SERIES
Quarterly evening networking events throughout the year in the UK. Next up: Brighton, 9 July, Hi-Rez Studios 9 JULY 2019
The 2019 edition of our flagship esports business event. 16-17 SEPTEMBER 2019
Visit www.esportsinsider.com or email info@esportsinsider.com for more information ESI LONDON