What should you read if you want to get an understanding of the esports landscape? What are the latest trends? How big is the space?
I receive a lot of inbound calls about the gaming and esports industries. Most of those calls are from investors looking to get exposure to the space. I’ve been pointing them to resources and thought it was time to curate a short list of where I recommend people go to get up to speed.
Overwatch League — Week 1 Stage 1 in Burbank, CA
There is a lot here, if you don’t know where to start, I’d just suggest watching this: For Years Many People Made Fun of Esports — Not Any More.
Here are a few of my favorite resources on the industry:
Websites / News Sources
There are a lot of news sources and esports dedicated websites. There are new ones every day. And some go out of business frequently. Here are the places I look for news most frequently:
- The Esports Observer (TEO)
- Dot Esports
- ESPN Esports
- The Next Level
- Kotaku Esports
- Reddit: r/esports
- Dexerto
- Esports Insider
Too many people to list, but here is my esports twitter list. Works for me, but you may want to make your own. The types of folks I follow for news on the space:
- Teams
- Pro Players
- Startups in the Industry
- Game Developers
- Journalists Covering the Industry
Esports Newsletters
- The Esports Observer Newsletter
- My esports newsletter — aggregated news weekly
- Venture Beat: Multiple gaming/esports related newsletters
- The Next Level
- Catalyst Meta
- Konvoy newsletter — subscribe at the bottom of their homepage
- Dot Esports Newsletter — scroll down their homepage to subscribe
- Cynopsis Media Esports Newsletter
Podcasts
Some podcasts that I listen to, but frankly I don’t follow as closely as Twitter or the news sites above:
- The Esports Observer
- ESPN Esports Podcast
- The Next Level
- Esports B.O.O.M. — Esports Business Podcast
YouTube Channels
NewZoo Reports
Go to NewZoo, and read their free reports, or the free portions of their reports. There is a ton of data on the size of the market, market projections, fan engagement, user behavior, players, teams, investors, etc. Here are a few links that may be helpful:
- NewZoo Website
- Some data / thoughts on the 2018 esports industry from NewZoo
- 2020 gaming and esports market projections from NewZoo
Equity Research
I can’t really give out broker reports, but I can tell you who to follow and you can leverage your resources to get these reports.
- Cowen Equity Research (Jan 2018) — “Esports: How Soon is Now” (great report, very in depth, try to get a copy)
- Morgan Stanley — They regularly cover the publicly traded game makers and often those reports have great industry commentary.
- Goldman Sachs — June 26, 2018 research report titled, “Esports: From Wild West to Mainstream”
Esports Investors
Drinking the Koolaid (or eating the dog food) here, but I put this post together and I update it semi-frequently. If you think I’m missing something let me know. I also prepared a CrunchBase list that I try to keep updated with esports investors, but you may need a subscription to view (sorry).
Other Interesting Articles/Videos on Esports Topics
- Where did Twitch Come From? Why Does this Kid Make $500,000 a Month Playing Video Games Online?
- Dota 2 — International Competition Prize Pool Over $24,000,000 in 2017
- Meet 2 Kids Who Get Paid to Play Video Games (video)
- How Esports Changed the World: From media laughingstock to media craze
- CB Insights: The State of Esports 2017 (download the briefing here)
Some Decent “Beginner’s Guides” to Esports
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/guides/esports-beginners-guide/
Why watch other people play video games? What you need to know about esports_CLOSE Fans flood arenas wearing their team jerseys. They rush to events in search of players' autographs. But these…_www.usatoday.com
Stephen Hays is a venture capital investor that has invested in a number of esports teams and startups.