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After spending most of 2024 recovering from a period of decline, esports industry executives are stepping on the gas in anticipation of a growth year in 2025.
In 2023, advertisers and investors jumped ship from competitive gaming, which leads to the so-called winter esportsa period in which esports organizations consolidated or oriented towards new business models to stay afloat. But over the past 12 months, the industry has rebounded, thanks in part to brands returning to the space as well as updated revenue sharing programs created by publishers of popular esports games.
Bolstered by the success of major new esports events like the World Esports Championship — and an influx of investment from the Saudi Arabian government — esports industry leaders are projecting confidence into 2025. Here’s a look at the best-case scenario for competitive gaming in the new year.
Saudi support
When asked about areas of focus for 2025, the 12 esports industry leaders contacted by Digiday for this story universally expressed their enthusiasm for this The Esports Olympics announced the International Olympic Committee at the beginning of this year. The first iteration of the event will be held next year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with plans to hold further editions “on a regular basis” for the next 12 years.
For experienced managers in the field of esports, it was except World Cup in esports held in Riyadh this summer — reflects the wider cultural acceptance of esports. He believes the presence of these events could help esports companies resell their broadcast rights, which was the previous main source of revenue for esports leagues, which in recent years.
“You have events approved by the IOC; The Esports World Cup holds its events, just like ‘League of Legends.’ As the product grows, mobile games come into play at a significantly greater level,” said Hicham Chahine, CEO of esports team Ninjas in Pajamas. “You have traditional broadcast, other streaming platforms and one-off events that are bought for streaming services. It’s inevitable that it comes back. But for now we have streaming together because we had a tough 2023 and a tough 2024 for those models.”
Collaborative streaming is the future
As Chahine pointed out above, another growing trend that will affect the esports industry in the coming year is the rise of influencer co-streaming, a practice that officially allows popular livestreamers to host their own broadcasts of esports tournaments and events, increasing overall viewership. events as a result.
“There are both positives and negatives to co-streaming. It’s amazing the idea of diversifying the fan base, getting big viewership numbers and opening up esports to different perspectives and different audiences that maybe don’t normally tune in,” said Chris DeAppolonio, CEO of esports team Evil Geniuses. “But at the end of the day, tournament organizers or broadcasters don’t really own the eyes, do they? And so they can’t really understand the demographics of the viewers and fully monetize them, either through media rights or pay-viewer partnerships.”
Esports publishers and league operators have gradually warmed to co-streaming in recent years – but in 2024 it will become the norm. During the past year, events such as “Rainbow Six” invitation. and major PGL companies used “Counter-Strike” to achieve co-streaming record viewing figureswhich reflects the growing importance of individual influencers in the online gaming space.
“We value our broadcasts, but we also want our players to enjoy esports the way they want to enjoy it — and if they’re watching their favorite streamer or influencer, we’re excited about that,” Riot Games said. President of Publishing and Esports John Needham. “So co-streaming actually generates almost 50 percent of our revenue in both esports [‘League of Legends’ and ‘Valorant’].”
More consolidation to come
The fact that 2024 was a relatively good year for the esports industry does not mean that every company in the space benefited from the positive trend. Like 2023, 2024 was a year of consolidation for the esports industry, with smaller companies merging or being raided by larger esports companies in order to survive and expand.
According to Drake Star’s, over the past year, roughly 20 percent of gaming transactions have been esports-focused. Global Games Report Q3 2024including recent deals such as Sale of Guild Esports to DCB Sports and M80 acquisition of esports team Beastcoast.
In 2025, esports consolidation is likely to continue. The esports organizations that will thrive are the so-called “firsts” – those with big valuations, big brand deals, and presence in multiple games or communities. Some smaller organizations may also be able to continue to grow by focusing their brand and identity on a single game – such as Sentinels and “Valorant” – or one geographic market. However, mid-sized esports organizations between these two poles will continue to feel the pressure, whether the esports winter has thawed or not.
“For the foreseeable future, there will be fewer and fewer second-tier companies when it comes to organizations and games. The bodies that can thrive are the top organizations, multi-game organizations that are backed by strong investments: G2, Liquid, Na’Vi, Vitality,” said Team Vitality CEO Nicolas Maurer. “So these kinds of teams have a future. We all have our own challenges, but the path to monetization is clear.”
