The global esports market is currently about 70 billion yen, and the audience is expected to reach about 500 million by 2020, which is a great business opportunity. There is no doubt.
In 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that esports could be considered as a sporting activity, and is looking into the possibility of adopting it as an Olympic sport. In July 2018, we held a forum on the theme of “esports” and the future of the Olympic movement.
Even in Japan, the competition group “Japan eSports Union (JeSU)” was established in February, and in 2018, it was booming as being called “the first year of eSports”.
However, despite being the most advanced country in the game industry, the status of esports and its competitors in Japan is disastrously low. From the current situation overseas, we will consider the challenges that stand in the way from legal development to changing the consciousness of the people.
(Ritsumeikan University Portal Reprinted from the site “shiRUto” )
The crossroads between Japan and the US were in the 90s
What is the difference between “game for Japanese people” and that of foreign countries?
Professor Akinori Nakamura, who belongs to the Ritsumeikan University Game Research Center and the Ritsumeikan University Faculty of Video Studies and specializes in international management and content industry, says:
“The history of games as a game in the United States began in the mid-1970s. Atari, a major US game company, held a game competition and the Japanese manufacturer Nintendo I also sponsored
On the other hand, even in Japan, the concept of “fighting games with a lot of audiences on a big monitor” was already presented in a comic/animation work called “Game Center Arashi” that started in 1979. There were also movements where the game became a social phenomenon.
However, until the 1990s, there were many software and facility promotion tournaments in both countries, and the purpose of the game tournament was only to “maximize the profits of game companies”
In other words, in the early ’90s, the development of Japanese and American game competitions was almost ЃgparallelЃh. However, after that, the road will deviate greatly.
Seems to be similar but totally different from Japan American “game culture”. The crossroad was in the 90’s Photo by Sean Do on Unsplash
ЃgIn the US, network game culture using PCs, not home-use games, has become the mainstream of game competition. What was there was communication between users connected via the Internet. The game tournament, which had been presided over by the manufacturer, was led by the user.
What happened as a result of being user-driven is a very sports perspective, “how to choose top players” and “how to stimulate the community”
In the United States, where the subject of the game competition was completely reversed and led by users, media that broadcast game competitions such as twich.tv were launched one after another, and professional sports organizations such as NBA started esports teams. The scale of the tournament will continue to grow, such as when it is formed.
Prize money and attracting customers have also been completely modelled as business models, and the esports ecosystem is now established.
“Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Counter Strike Global Offensive, CS: GO)Ѓh World Championship. By 2018, more than 3000 competitions will be held and the total prize money will reach 6.5 billion yen. Photo by Getty Images
A Japanese game user who works with pure “passion”
How was Japan? In fact, the approach from the ’90s onwards will lead to the current situation that esports is currently not ЃgacceptedЃh.
“As you all know, Japan’s game industry is very strong. On the other hand, the esports industry is weak. This is an abnormal situation.
Looking at the ASEAN countries, the number of prize-winners “number” is higher in Japan than in Malaysia and the Philippines, but in the “total amount” prize money, Malaysia and the Philippines are larger than Japan. There were a few big prize competitions in Japan due to legal issues, but that’s not the only reason.
Japanese players have little sense of playing games for “winning prizes.”
Then what is the purpose? I think “passion”. The pure feelings and affection for the game have moved the players.”
Is there “game love” because it is a game industry powerhouse, or is it Japanese nationality? That approach is not trivial, but it didn’t have the perspective of user-led value creation and business model transformation.
Even if American-style e-sports are introduced in the form of “re-import”, the starting point that cannot be accepted easily seems to be that the main body of the tournament is different and the way of facing the game.
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