Smaller-scale e-sports organizations have started using blockchain tech for distributing prize pools, but the tech is yet to be adopted by the big tournament organizers.
Organizers of small e-sports tournaments have begun to adopt blockchain technology to conduct tournaments and distribute prize pools. However, don’t expect to see him in the big leagues, said one investor. E-sports, or electronic sports, are a form of competition organized around video games. Gamers sometimes referred to as e-sports players often compete for prize money, either individually or as a team. Dave Harris, managing director of e-sports investment firm Guinevere Capital, told Cointelegraph that he has started to see blockchain being used in amateur sports competitions.
According to him, however, it will take a long time before news articles and professional competitions consider adopting the technology. “There are certainly many places where this technology can or has been used in import, but it will take time for it to be adopted in titles and events, and as always, the main game publishers are the ones who making a king,” he said.
Ivy Fung, head of the E-sports Players League (ESPL), said she thinks blockchain technology is a good option when it comes to distributing the prize pool. The Singapore-based company operates on a blockchain-backed platform that distributes monetary contributions from digital assets such as non-fungible tokens (NFT) and crypto tokens directly into winners’ digital wallets.
According to Fung, the use of blockchain enables the sharing of this pool of funds while bypassing barriers such as cross-border transfer fees charged by traditional banks. “When you’re talking about an international tournament, you need a good way to distribute the tournament pool so you don’t have to wait for the winner to give us their bank account and verify and all that stuff.”
These prizes are far from the international export competition, however, which can run into millions of dollars.
Harris thinks blockchain and Web3 have an important role to play in exports, but he thinks the future will have to think outside the box to attract mainstream attention. “There may be more effective ways to use this technology to analyze and present results, but I’m not sure that will really change the game,” he said.
“I think that a model that allows the creative workers to make a sale and the money will be distributed well among all the stakeholders are an opportunity for the company,” he said. Gamers have a love-hate relationship with crypto, especially when NFTs are involved.
An October survey from Coda Labs found that traditional players are not in favor of cryptocurrencies or NFTs, expressing their opinion at 4.5 and 4.3 out of 10 respectively. French gaming giant Ubisoft Entertainment came under fire last year for its Quartz NFT project, forcing the company to backtrack on plans to include NFT in its games.
Despite this, Harris said that ultimately the technology will benefit the players, saying:
“In principle, ‘actually owning’ things in a game and being able to transfer them to other games or environments is a great idea for players.”
“The current technology will be used in the future, but I think that there is now a doubt that in some cases the backlash from the country where the technology until now has often shown itself in this which he views as a business or get-rich-quick scheme,” he added. “I think the learning curve is there,” Fung said.
“There will be people who will reject it, but as long as we can show them the benefits of using this system, I think they will accept it soon. This will be the norm. Everyone will use it,” he added. The total market value of the e-sports industry is expected to reach $1.62 billion in 2024, according to data published by Breaking News.
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