An introduction to esports – Part 3

See part 2 in our esports series for an analysis of the most important legal issues for publishers, teams, sponsors and investors in the esports industry.

We spoke to Kevin Wong, a former member and captain of a national level esports team in the multiplayer online battle arena game (MOBA) Heroes of the Storm. We had an opportunity to speak to him about his first-hand experiences in esports whilst he was an intern in our Singapore office.

Hi Kevin, how did you find out about esports?

I had always been an avid gamer growing up. From the age of six, I was completely obsessed with online games like Neopets, Runescape, Maplestory, and many other role-playing games. Probably the first competitive title that I got really into was DotA back when MOBAs just started to emerge as a dominant genre in competitive gaming. Since then, I have also played many other titles in the MOBA genre such as League of Legends, alongside others that are no longer around.

I think the status of esports was still generally quite under the radar in its early days. For anyone actively playing DotA, however, it was hard to miss its emergence as it was all over the internet, on social media feeds (especially when most of your friends are fellow gamers) and people would be discussing it online. Now most gamers recognise how significant competitive gaming and its spectatorship has become – it’s a global phenomenon. For those who have gamed all their lives, esports has become an inescapable part of the gaming world.

What made you want to try esports?

Heroes of the Storm (HotS) was released in 2015, and I started playing with a regular group of five friends, which allowed us to form an entire team (previously I had usually played MOBAs with just one other friend).

Crucially, the emergence of social platforms like Discord allowed us to communicate in real time whilst gaming, which really added a fun and social dynamic to our gaming experience. We were no longer playing alongside strangers, and there was this sense of complete and shared ownership over how the game played out.

Our first competition was a local community cup held for HotS. We saw an advert for this and decided to give it a go. It turned out to be really entertaining and we connected with lots of other teams in the HotS community who had been into the esports scene for a while. The level of competition in esports was much higher than in games arranged by an online matchmaker, which made the game much more exciting for my team. There was also the possibility of winning prize money, gaming equipment and vouchers which added yet another incentive to enter the world of esports.

How did you see the organisation of tournaments progress from 2015-2017, and what can you see now?

During 2015 the esports scene for HotS expanded after the launch of a worldwide league called the Heroes Global Championship with yearly finals at Blizzcon (Blizzard’s annual gaming convention). Throughout the year, each region had its own separate tournaments, for the purpose of seeding the top teams from each region to the Blizzcon finals.

The Southeast Asian Region had its own quarterly championships. I captained our team called ‘Inquisition’. I did both the shot calling (communicating strategy to the team) during games and took care of all the practical arrangements such as signing up for tournaments, arranging scrims (practice games) with other teams and distributing prize winnings. Even though, compared to the very serious teams, we treated it as a casual endeavour, I think at some point we started training about three to four times a week, for about three hours each night. This took place through holidays and even during the college semester.

The competitive scene for HotS in a small region like Southeast Asia was relatively contained. Most tournament qualifiers fielded about 16 teams, of which eight would make it past the qualifiers. It would usually be the same teams from around the region who would compete, with members moving between teams. Prize pools for regional qualifiers were relatively modest - roughly about USD 5,000 for first place, USD 2,500 for second place, and so on. The top team in the region would qualify to play at a global level, where prize pools were much larger, ranging from USD 10,000 to USD 100,000.

My team played regionally for a number of seasons, between 2015-2017, usually placing second, third, or fourth. We stopped joining tournaments after 2017, due to our college commitments!

Did you sign any contracts?

As I played at a relatively amateur level, I did not have to sign many contracts. The main contracts I dealt with involved registering for tournaments, which would involve agreeing to the stipulated rules and regulations, violations of which were grounds for disqualification. There were also forms to sign on behalf of my team when collecting prize money. Given that the prize money was generally small amounts, I did not come across any particularly complex contracts.

At a professional esports level, where players sign on with esports organisations, there will be much more complex agreements that stipulate terms of performance, conduct, and salary. I imagine that for players without a legal background and all-too eager to live out their dreams as professional gamers, these contracts might be a little daunting!

What would you say were the main concerns of esports players?

I can’t speak on behalf of all esports players, as my foray into esports was a hobby and an exciting adventure. I never quite made it to play on a professional level, nor did I have serious ambitions of doing so. For aspiring professional gamers hoping to turn their passion for gaming into a full-time profession, I think there is always going to be the question: is this going to be a sustainable career? It is an immensely competitive world and the majority of aspiring esports players may never get to play at professional level. When offered a contract, the practical reality is that players may not even question the technicalities of contractual provisions, their welfare or the distribution of earnings. Players just want to be able to compete at professional level and it’s possible that they think that being too picky about the contract might cost them their big break.

Is there anything that you think the esports industry can do better?

In recent years, the esports industry has wanted to be seen as a viable career option for aspiring gamers worldwide. For the industry to become even more accessible, both developers and esports organisations should ensure that they are offering their players sustainable salaries, fair terms, clear contracts and legal assistance (so that players understand their rights and obligations under any agreements). I know that the industry is already working hard on this, for example I understand Activision Blizzard have set out in their Call of Duty Global League rules that players must be offered a salary of USD 50,000 with healthcare benefits.

Esports players are often young parties entering into agreements with large esports organisations and game developers, and therefore (even if parents and guardians are involved) there might need to be an onus on the organisations and developers to draft the contracts such that the players are properly protected from exploitation. The other area that could be improved is competition rules and regulations – the fairer and more accessible these are the more the community will grow!

Where do you see esports in 5 years’ time?

Personally, I believe the esports industry is only going to grow and become a mainstay of modern entertainment soon. The specific games and genres that are popular at any time will change from time to time (for example, the recent rise of the battle royale and auto-chess genres), which is refreshing, but the demand for high level competitive gaming is likely to continue and lead to further industry growth in the years to come.