Entering Esports: Transforming Gaming into a New Discipline

What the talk is about

Roman Rodin, Chief Legal Officer of a holding that includes the esports operator WePlay, talks about the business side of esports and the synergy between a tournament operator and a game developer. He outlines the revenue sources: sponsorship (increasingly from non-endemic brands), media rights sales and merchandise. The key difference from traditional sports is that each discipline belongs to its developer, so decisions made without them carry no weight. For a game to become a discipline it needs multiplayer, balance, simplicity and a clear viewing culmination; popularity matters more than genre or technology. He describes partnership models: joint development, operator investment in a project, and a classic investor, plus the value of testing at tournaments. Useful for game studios thinking about esports.