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Asia Nikkei: Esports take center stage at Tokyo Game Show

G

ggx2ac

Member
More at the link: https://asia.nikkei.com/Japan-Update/Esports-take-center-stage-at-Tokyo-Game-Show

To increase the popularity of esports in Japan, TGS will have eight esports tournaments open to the public over the weekend.

In a first for the Tokyo Game Show, Japan's largest annual game expo, sponsors Sony and Samsung Japan are making esports a central attraction of the event, featuring the competitive gaming on two stages with a combined 1,000 seats. Eight esport tournaments will be open to the public this Saturday and Sunday.
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You'll get to watch the international pros play Winning Eleven (soccer) and Call of Duty.

Attendees can watch some of the top professional gamers from Japan, the U.S., Taiwan and Singapore battle it out in soccer game "Winning Eleven" and first-person shooter "Call of Duty", among others.
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Sega president is up for the challenge(?) of bringing opportunities(?) for esports throughout the world.

"We will bring opportunities for esports that can be enjoyed throughout the world. We are ready to take this ambitious challenge," said Hideki Okamura, president of Sega Holdings and chairman of Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, the organizer of the expo, at the opening ceremony on Thursday.
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Esports is expected to become a billion dollar business worldwide by 2020.

Globally, the esports industry generated $493 million in revenue last year, with an audience of about 320 million people, according to market research firm Newzoo. Revenue is expected to reach $1.5 billion by 2020.
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Already covered in another Nikkei thread about the problems regarding cash prizes in esports in Japan.

Also, JRPGs to blame for why esports aren't popular in Japan.

By comparison, Japan has been slow to embrace esports, in part because of domestic laws that restrict cash prizes for events and stop prize money from being pooled using proceeds from ticket sales. Other reasons include the popularity in the country of role-playing games, which are mostly played solo.
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Samsung Japan is co-hosting an esports event with DMM, the esport tournament will be for the game PUBG from the looks of it.

Samsung Japan, a subsidiary of South Korea's Samsung, has joined hands with DMM.com, a Japanese e-commerce and internet company, to host one of the two esports stages. Fifty computers are spread around the area, with fans playing "Playerunknown's Battlegrounds,"
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There's a lot more in the article, developers from Malaysia, India, Indonesia and China have set up booths at TGS to show off their products/services.

More stuff about esports popularity in Malaysia and China, etc.
 
sotojuan

sotojuan

Member
This is one of those moments where I feel different from 99% of gamers out there. I have not played a multiplayer game in years and years. Yet if I went to ask random people what they played, it seems most would be those kind of games.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
When does Square Enix bring back Blitzball in its own game with multiplayer, microtransactions and all that good stuff?
 
C

CoLaN

Member
I really think they try too hard to push esports.

Its still mostly marketing to sell certain games, not some "passion" driven events that evolve naturally. Also, most competitive videogames require too much previous knowledge to be enjoyed by a broader population.
 
S

squall23

Member
Should've invited the Japanese Overwatch team to show off some exhibitions if they want some good esports coverage. For a country that's not known for FPSs, their team is good enough to beat some of the best nations in the world.
 
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