Bigger, better and showing no signs of slowing down might be the best way to describe eSports in 2016.
With traditional sports showing an increase in average audience age, it is eSports that has captured the attention of brands and marketers, leading to some interesting investment decisions and worldwide expansion as the coveted millennial market is targeted.
Here are some of the more interesting developments of the past 12 months.
The Rise of Overwatch
With the introduction of a Korean OGN league for Overwatch, the scene gained legitimacy and staying power as a top tier eSport. The biggest highlights for Overwatch revolved around competitive decision making, BlizzCon and the OGN league.
The introduction of the one hero per team limit [multiple players can no longer use the same hero] showed that Blizzard would take control of the meta game and continue to shape it as time goes on.
With South Korea’s win at BlizzCon, the rise of American team EnVyUs through the OGN playoffs with a new player was certainly one of the biggest shocks of the year. Last minute addition Mickie would shine on the newly buffed D.Va, with his mastery of her ultimate ability, helping his team win the first season of Korea’s Overwatch League.
Korea continue to dominate in League of Legends
While many thought the gap was closing in Season 6 of League of Legends, SKT Telecom continued to show their dominance of the scene, winning their third title in four years. Taking down fellow Korean team Samsung Galaxy in the 2016 League of Legends World Championship Grand Finals, Faker and crew showed their ability to adapt from year to year while maintaining the highest standard possible in the eSport. Even with KT Rolster’s new super team, it’s difficult to envision SKT slowing down at any point during 2017.
CounterStrike makes its way to TV
The introduction of ELeague – a Counter Strike Global Offensive League that would be broadcast in primetime on Turner/TBS in the United States – presented the world of competitive eSports to the casual fan. Based in Atlanta, Season 1 would be captured by the dominant Polish squad Virtus.Pro after the former Luminosity Gaming members, now SK Gaming and considered favourites for the event, were disqualified.
Season 2 brought its own flair for the dramatic, with North America’s OpTic Gaming stunning the world by defeating a red-hot Astralis side.
The stunning rise of Cloud9
North America’s Cloud9 found surprising success by utilizing two players that most of the scene believed had little to no ability; Stewie2k and autimatic. Now coined “the Asian Duo”, they would come to represent the best of North America in an incredibly short amount of time. With Stewie’s Swiss army knife of skills (in-game leader, secondary AWPer, entry fragger) and autimatic’s consistent play at the highest level, Cloud9 would ascend to take the ESL Pro League Season 4 championships in Brazil over hometown and massive favourites SK Gaming.
S1mple’s ascension to the top of Counter Strike
S1mple displayed his absurd talents at the beginning of 2016, carrying North America’s Team Liquid to a number of top four finishes. While ongoing issues forced Liquid and s1mple to go their separate ways, s1mple would later join Natus Vincere and within two months Na’Vi were crowned winners of ESL One: New York 2016.
While at first s1mple struggled with Na’Vi, the decision to allow him to become the secondary AWPer over seized released s1mple’s potential for the team, allowing them to have a successful end to the year.
Within his time as a member of both Liquid and Na’Vi, s1mple has displayed the ability to be considered one of the best players in the world alongside the likes of SK Gaming’s coldzera and G2’s Shox.
S1mple’s skills have never been the issue, and if he can avoid his early foibles while at Na’Vi (where he underperformed at the team’s first LAN), s1mple may come to stand alone as the single greatest player in Counter Strike for 2017.
Looking ahead to 2017
The phenomenal growth of eSports in 2016 showed no sign of slowing down and with professional sporting teams and their owners investing in greater numbers, the expectation is for even greater coverage and awareness next year. While there were bumps in the road, and are likely to be more in 2017, the overall trajectory remains extremely positive for players, fans and the community at large.
