How Virtual Reality will impact the E-sports industry

The Growth of the E-sports Industry

E-sports is still a relatively young but rapidly growing industry. Price money for tournaments has been growing steadily, with the number of million-dollar tournaments increasing by 41% over the last 5 years. Countries and state funds have been eager to get involved with the Saudi-funded Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquiring e-sports tournament organizer ESL in a deal worth more than 1 billion US dollars. On top of that, more and more games are looking to host tournaments with the best players competing against the best. Games like Fortnite, PUBG and Rainbow Six are prime examples of newer e-sports titles joining the old ones like Counter-Strike and League of Legends.

The Advent of Virtual Reality in E-sports

So why is this very young industry already facing a massive change in the coming years? The introduction of virtual reality is set to change the e-sports world. VR headsets are bound to make games more immersive, realistic and fun to play. Valve has already released a VR headset, the Valve Index. So it is likely that we’ll see virtual reality versions of their most successful e-sports games, Counter-Strike and Dota 2, at some point. Now it remains to be seen if VR equipment will actually be implemented for high-level competitive play or if it remains solely for casual gamers. New e-sports titles will most likely emerge from the ground up with a focus on VR. 

The Impact on In-Game Economies and Gambling

But the implications are much larger than just the game itself. Skins and in-game items are a multibillion dollar industry, and they may very well get even more sought after with the introduction of VR. CSGO gambling sites are casino sites where users can gamble with Counter-Strike skins rather than traditional currencies, and they could get even more immersive and addictive with VR. E-sports betting is another industry that will profit massively from the upcoming VR boom. With e-sports betting sites looking to make the user experience as good as possible for VR users as well as adding more and more e-sports titles to their books.

The Future of E-sports and VR

It remains to be seen when virtual reality will have its breakthrough moment, but we can already tell that it will reshape our lives and especially the way we consume media in the not-so-distant future. With big companies like Apple, Meta and Valve all launching their own VR headsets, big tech is looking to profit off this revolution. The e-sports industry is set to undergo drastic changes with the introduction of VR headsets. In-game items and e-sports betting businesses will experience another boom because of the expected growth of e-sports in general.