Despite the chill, many industry commentators and business minds are deciding that the ‘esports winter’ is finally warming up. Across the industry, there are talks about how sustainability and real change is sweeping the industry. Everyday a LinkedIn post about building something better crosses the timeline.
There’s dozens of new tournaments being announced, with operators for games like Dota 2 and Counter-Strike planning years of events. Leagues for games long thought dead (although, as we’ve pointed out,) are emerging, with titles like Overwatch and StarCraft receiving support in 2024. Perhaps, after a long and cold season, esports is finally back to surging.
But despite this, there’s something odd about this “build back better” mentality. There’s a lot of the same names and same structures still standing from the esports winter. And perhaps the same reliance on developers and outside investment. So is this really something new, or more of the same? Is esports truly becoming sustainable, or have we just swapped one set of reliable investors for another?