ESports in VR

Welcome back for another Amateur Hour blog!

Today I wanted to address Virtual Reality's influence in the sphere of electronic sports (eSports) and share my opinion on its future. To do this, I must first briefly review VR eSports start in the official Electronic Sports League (ESL). As many fans of video games know, eSports is a rapidly growing phenomenon in the sports industry; arguably and statistically the fastest growing sport in the world. However, there are only a select few games that qualify as eSport material, some of which you may have heard of before: Starcraft, Counter Strike: Global Offensive (i.e., CS:GO), Overwatch, Call of Duty, Hearthstone, DOTA 2, Rainbow Six Siege, League of Legends, Fortnite, Rocket League, and the list goes on. All of these games are flat screen and PC run (console is not a significant competitor in eSports yet) and even more clear is the absence of VR titles such as Echo Combat, Echo Arena, Onward, Pavlov, Contractors, and others. There are many points as to why this is, but the most critical factor is novelty.

Though VR has been around since the 1960's, it has only grown as a consumer product in recent years (approximately 2016) and has garnered love and praise from a niche section of the gaming community. Up until the release of the Oculus Quest in 2019, VR has traditionally been an expensive endeavor that was targeted at the hardcore and curious which reduced the consumer base significantly; this is a primary shortcoming of the influence in the eSports world. Not only were the head-mounted display (HMD) and peripherals expensive, they were cumbersome to set up. The field-of-view (FOV) was limited and graphics felt dated. Because of the pixel density being significantly reduced in conjunction with less than optimal lenses as compared to its flat-screen counterpart, there was a screen door effect that reduced immersion. Significant improvements have been made in recent years, particularly from the leading architects at Oculus and Valve, but the damage was already done and marketing for VR has been a bumpy road since.

This brings us to another contributing factor for VR's absence in the eSports landscape: Marketing. Advertisement for virtual realty as a whole has been less than stellar with the majority of televised commercials coming from the Oculus brand. This means Valve, Sony, Microsoft, Pimax, and other architect brands have had no influence over the global consumer market except within the already niche community. Dependency on social media "influencers" to spread the word of their product has crippled growth overall. Even with the influence coming from big names like BMF, Eric for President, Upload VR, Mike from Virtual Reality Oasis, and Gamertag VR, exposure is highly restricted when compared to the global influence traditional gaming has on the industry. Therefore, professional teams are more inclined to stick with traditional gaming rather than venture into virtual reality competitive play.

There is hope! Brands such as VR Challenger League (VRCL), established by the ESL, and VR Master League (VRML) that were organized in early-to-mid 2017 have brought VR competitors to the big stage. In their fist year, VRCL covered games such as The Unspoken, Echo Arena and Onward with big names among the likes of Reukifellth, Yawning Soldier, Charizard, and Lemming, all who were/are star players with extraordinary talent. By 2019, VRCL and VRML merged with VRML providing simultaneous coverage of even more titles including Tower Tag, Contractors, Final Assault, Pavlov, and Space Junkies. Acquiring thousands of followers, the VRCL and VRML have solidified their role within the VR eSports community and bringing competitive VR to the forefront. I could speak more to their influence, but I will save that for future blogs.

Now that we covered the paraphrased history and shortcomings of VR in eSports and the global consumer market, let us talk about something closer to home, or at least to the majority of our current viewership. Firewall: Zero Hour is a critically acclaimed VR first person shooter for the Playstation VR (PSVR) platform released in August 2018. Some would consider it a flagship title that has garnered popularity because of the tightness of controls, graphical fidelity, realism, and continued developer support. The developers at First Contact Entertainment (FCE) have produced a product that is loved by now 1 million+ PSVR owners with the most growth observed from February 2020 to present (statistics courtesy of gamstat.com). With its now 20 Contractors each offering unique skill sets and 18 diverse map choices, there is an endless game-play loop that sets the foundation for a truly exciting eSports competitive experience. Many who have played or watched a match of Firewall liken it to Rainbow Six Siege developed by Ubisoft, a monster in the eSports world. Similarly, Rainbow Six has a number of Operators to choose from (53) and plenty of maps to battle in (20), but its status in the eSports world did not come without its challenges. In May 2016, the first ever broadcast match was paused for hours as a bug was showcased on screen and corrective action was being taken in real time. Unfortunately the bug could not be corrected. A gentleman's agreement dictated the rest of the match, limiting the Operator's abilities by one rendering that particular Operator obsolete (according to reports). However, Ubisoft were persistent in making their game better and by 2018 at their second Six Invitational, Rainbow Six Siege reached viewership equivalent to that of DOTA 2 and CS:GO the two highest viewed eSports games of that year. Today, Rainbow Six is a staple in eSports entertainment and is growing in popularity every month.Like Rainbow Six, it has been a bumpy road for Firewall; let us remember FCE's release of Nightfall (yikes)! Despite the issues, FCE has persevered and has had its greatest growth in the past few months suggesting there is no slowing down for this title.

You are probably asking, "What does Rainbow Six have to do with Firewall: Zero Hour?" The purpose of drawing the comparison between the two is to highlight the potential Firewall: Zero Hour has within the sphere of eSports influence. With how closely the games play and look, it stands to reason that if a VR title is to break the mold of traditional eSports, Firewall has the potential! The similarities between the titles means greater familiarity among consumers which could potentially translate to greater viewership and more exposure. Granted, Firewall is not designed with eSport viewing in mind, but that has not stopped the organization of fan run leagues and tournaments or coverage by fan run broadcasting (e.g., Amateur Hour Commentary and VRESPORTSBRASIL). With enough persistence and growth, it stands to reason that a title like Firewall could bring competitive console VR into the ring with its PCVR brethren and that of the ESL. Competitive VR is a thing of the future, but the not-so-distant future. It is not unwise to assume VR eSports will become a household joy within the next 10 years, but to insure its success there has to be improvements in marketing and advertising, not just of the hardware, but the games themselves. Units must become affordable and less demanding to set up and developers have to invest in games specifically designed for VR to attract more consumers to invest in the market. If the patents for PSVR 2 are to be believed, then Sony will be stepping up their game making console VR a more competitive product. Architects from Apple and Oculus are already investing in VR/AR glasses that could make interaction with the platform easier than ever. The speed at which technology advances is promising, but to make such advancements worth the resources, a strong marketing network has to be constructed. I am hopeful for the future and will continue my pursuit in bringing live VR action to fans on the platforms I have built. I hope you join me in this pursuit. Thank you for reading and I'll talk to you in the next one!

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