The world of esport is still in movement, taking more or less surprising paths. What did you miss last week? For this new issue, our Press Round Up talks about the new friendship between Vivendi and ESL, a profiles analysis by NewZoo, Overwatch celebrating its 20 million players for Halloween and the Melty Esport Club which leaves the business.
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A new friendship between Vivendi and ESL
Vivendi has announced a key partnership with the Electronic Sports League (ESL) last week. This will be expressed by the establishment of official leagues in France based on the National ESL championships model. Besides this organizational support, this collaboration will allow the broadcast of contests through the Canal+ Group channels. Through this partnership, ESL shows its eagerness to establish its supremacy on the French territory. The French firm will have to face a growing competition, notably since Webedia has announced they take over the ESWC.
The launch of Canal+ on the French market is utter. For a reminder, the channel will broadcast, on October the 26th, the documentary “Game Fever”. The premiere of Canal Esport Club will follow, the first issue being planned on October the 28th. Le media group will launch a dedicated web platform and will also have a stall at the Paris Games Week.
Smarcast’s eye: if Canal+ strategy seems to be clear enough, some questions remain. Will the program from Canal Esport club be successful? Will the offer be attractive enough to make the public subscribing whereas a huge part of the content is already available for free on the Internet?
Esport: a perfect communication platform on NewZoo’s point of view
Is the excitement for esport actually justified? NewZoo, the video game-dedicated Market Research Institute tries to answer this question. With this aim, they conducted a study in the US, targeting 3.000 people aged of 10 to 65 years old. Here are a few figures from this research which could be interesting:
- 22% of the American population aged of 21 to 35 years old watch electronic sports. This data is higher than for ice hockey and similar to baseball;
- 73% of esports fans are less than 35 years old;
- The typical esport fan is highly connected to the digital world and can’t be reached through the traditional media.
“The huge interest in esports from sports celebrities, clubs, media companies, and brands alike illustrates how games are leading the media and entertainment business.” Peter van de Heuvel, esport director at NewZoo. Van de Heuvel concludes saying that gaming “have a unique ability to engage with and actively involve the younger generations […]. Find all NewZoo figures and analytic here.
Overwatch will celebrate Halloween with its 20.000 players
Since its launch in October, May the 24th, Overwatch is seeking to be the new reference on PC and consoles. After only 5 months, the Overwatch community is still growing up and the phenomenon will not stop there. Indeed, with its Hero Shooter, Blizzard has overcome a significant milestone through a trans-media strategy with animated chapters providing the history of each hero, thus creating a link between the player and the game.
Moreover, like the event during the Olympic Games which saw specific skins for the heroes, Blizzard will celebrate this record with its 20 million players through its Halloween-dedicated event. Blizzard hence allows to renew the artwork of a game already recognizable among all others.
The French esport says goodbye to the Melty Esport Club
After two years of contests on the French scene, the Melty Esport Club steps down and announced to its players, on October the 14th, that the team will close up. The gamers’ contracts will end after the Paris Games Week closing.
This announce would be directly linked to the market acceleration following the investments done by the giant Webedia. Melty, whilst rationalizing its costs, was not able to keep pace. The shareholders preferred stopping the machine. Which perspective for the French market if one over the four richest clubs must give up? Find out more about this analysis here.
