The video game sector has been on the rise for many years, the new generations join those who grew up with an industry that has positioned itself as the one that moves the most money related to entertainment, above the cinema. Within the wide spectrum of existing players (with totally different motivations, diametrically opposite tastes and objectives that have nothing to do with each other) we find an increasingly larger group that is interested in the competitive component of some of the titles. This has given rise to what is known as e-Sports or electronic sports, which after its evolution in PC and consoles (where its trajectory has been stretching for some time) seems make the leap to the other great platform: mobile devices.
Competitive gaming in general is estimated to have already seduced some 113 million players around the whole globe. And it does not surprise us, since practically everyone who is at the controls in a more or less usual way will have had contact with a title that encourages or allows competition among users. There are a thousand examples, from Pokémon with its battles and tournaments, games frequented by 'casual' users like FiFa or NBA 2K, even those that currently have a larger community focused on competitive: FPS (First Person Shooter) as Call of Duty and Counter Strike o MOBAs (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) like Dota 2 and League Of Legends.
Some of them have official competitions, with institutions at national and international level in charge of: establishing a common framework with a series of rules that all who wish to participate must comply with, programming calendars or keeping a record of results and classifications, among other things. This has resulted in the most skilled players being able to even become professional, live from the benefits provided by sponsors and the prizes obtained for victories.
The Vainglory case
The platforms on which these competitions are held are the latest generation consoles (currently Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4) and the PC. But there is an alternative that is pushing to break through in this "world", mobile devices. Jens Hilgers, the founder and president of ESL (Electronic Sports League), believes in relation to this issue that "They have the potential to amplify the effect of e-Sports since there is a large public that wants to play there". Of course, many more people have a mobile device than a console, and with it increase of technical capacities Of these, the possibilities are almost endless.
At this point Vainglory appears. We have already told you about it before, including it in our list of best MOBA for tablets when it was still exclusive to iOS devices and this summer when Android version finally released. The game, developed by Super Evil Megacorp, completely breaks with the idea of a mobile video game that we all have in mind (Candy Crush, Clash Of Clans, Angry Birds) offers a complete experience that has hooked millions of fans of the genre, achieving excellent download figures and lots of positive reviews.
Users who now want to exploit the competitive component of Vainglory. We mentioned them before, Dota 2 and League of Legends competitions are among the most followed (online and in person) around the world, and both are MOBAs. But there is a problem and to understand it we need to explain a little more the mechanics of the game. Vainglory games face two teams of three players each, where each player controls a hero, the objective is to destroy the turrets and the crystal of the enemy base. To win a good strategy is needed, coordination between team members when executing it and precision in actions. The PC is perfect in this regard, mice and keyboards can be difficult to control at first but offer high precision. Can touch controls replace the mouse in a competition?
They can, thanks to the quality of the current screens (they offer very fast response times and great precision) and the control system implemented in Vainglory. Proof of this is the satisfactory result of the first tournament of the game that was held last July in Korea, a country where all this e-Sports is much more advanced and has a significant fan base. "We all think, including myself, that it would be very arrogant to go out and say that we are creating an e-Sports"Kristian Segerstrale, Super Evil Megacorp's chief operating officer, noted after the event.
The future
Despite these statements, the company is doing its best and has already initiated the contacts to create the first official competitive league of Vainglory in the Asian country. A milestone that can mark a before and after in the relationship between mobile devices and the video game sector. Alex Novosad, Intel software engineer and co-creator of one of the teams that will compete in Korea believes that "This is just one of the first games that we think, it could score the beginning of an era of competitive gaming on mobile devices".
It doesn't take an expert to realize that other companies are already testing the waters. The best example is Blizzard with its popular card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, a title that is already an active part of e-Sports on PC but that can unleash its audience with mobile devices. One last detail to take into account, some recent studies support the idea that in 2016 there will be more players on mobile devices than on PC.
Vía: Bits