By Kim Yoo-chul
DAEGU ― The global e-sports or online gaming industry is now in transition but a few conditions should be met in order to ensure its robust and balanced growth, experts said at a forum, last week.
Efforts are being made to increase the viability of online games, riding on the popularity of a series of real-time strategy games such as StarCraft, but the growth of Internet gaming is limited to Korea and the United States, thus requiring international alliances for global proliferation.
"The gaming industry as a whole has seen ups and downs, leaving publishers and the media confused as to what is the right business model," said Joshua LaTendresse, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley Martial Arts Program.
"Thus, standardization with regard to game selection and regulation are strongly needed."
LaTendresse was a guest speaker at the "2010 International e-Sports Symposium" or IeSym at the Daegu Exhibition Convention Center (EXCO), southern Seoul. The event was organized by the International e-Sports Federation (IeSF).
Founded in August 2008, IeSF currently has 15 member countries.
He argued for four necessities in order to guarantee the development of the game industry ― driving corporate sponsorship and support, partnering with developers and publishers, gaining the interest of gaming media and attracting top professional players.
If these requirements are met, he said that a unified format will help emerging international e-sports countries see a better chance of market growth.
"By laying the groundwork with clear guidelines for content developers, the IeSF could further be a trustable marketing partner for publishers," he said.
A senior executive at Neowiz Games, Korea's second-biggest gaming company, said setting up global standards over key rules means better profit-making, and will increase the healthiness of the industry.
"We need breakthroughs," added Jeon Kyoung-hoon, the executive from Neowiz.
It’s unknown how much the e-sport business sector is worth right now, though quite a few professional gamers are earning up to $300,000 to $400,000 each year in sponsorships outside of tournament prizes.
With the rise of leagues like Major League Gaming, the United States has begun catching up with foreign competitors. In Korea, for example, a public channel called MBC Game broadcasts e-sports games.
"E-sports represent the most technically advanced way of doing sport. It still has its roots in the military as does the older sports, while combining elements of competition and personal skill," said Colin Webster, the president of Mind Sports in South Africa.
With advances in the ability of game machines to read and interpret a user's body movements and hand gestures, and even facial expressions, e-sports industry has broadened its appeal to a wider audience, as well as to advertisers.
Not only are more people playing the games, but they are spending more time and money on them, according to experts.