What is gaming without a little competition? Competitive gaming with esports and iGaming is reshaping the way everyday players engage, compete, and enjoy games. With more players joining every platform, the competition to rank high on the leaderboards is stiff. However, they also offer better engagement and experience when gaming.
Esports and iGaming aren’t just for the pros anymore; they are changing the entire gaming culture. More casual gamers are registering on esports and iGaming platforms, increasing competition but also the scope for engaging, interactive gaming.
Take a dive into the growth of esports and its impact on the experience and opportunities for casual gamers.
What is Esports and iGames, and Why Are They Gaining Popularity?
Traditionally, esports refer to organized, competitive gaming that is played at a professional level, such as global tournaments and leagues. While esports tournaments may offer entertainment to the observers, they are a serious competition for the participating teams. The participating teams are rewarded through viewership, prize pools, and brand sponsorships. Some of the most popular titles are League of Legends, CS: GO, DOTA 2, and Valorant.
On the other hand, iGaming refers to online games that involve monetary transactions, such as online poker, Indian rummy, and fantasy sports. These interactive games test the skill of players, increasing engagement and using rewards as a motivation. While increasingly social, these are also highly skill-driven.
The Expanding Ecosystem of Esports and iGames
In today’s online gaming market, both esports and iGaming are booming due to the following:
- Tech advancements: Faster internet connections, mobile accessibility, advanced graphics, and AR/VR integrations.
- Streaming culture: Twitch, Discord, YouTube Gaming, etc.
- Incentives: Prizes and rewards won from tournaments.
- Pandemic effect: Accelerated adoption of online entertainment.
- Simple, relatable games: iGaming with fantasy sports and rummy game online play provide a version of classic games.
These drivers have taken online gaming from the enthusiasts to casual gamers who play to pass the time.
What This Means for Casual Gamers
As one who plays recreationally, casual gamers will enjoy the following with widespread availability of esports and iGaming:
a. Increased Accessibility
Players have more platforms (mobile, browser-based) available for gaming. Further, the freemium and skill-based entry points draw more players to iGaming, which usually involves buy-ins and monetary rewards. There is also a rise in the number of online tournaments being held for amateurs with real rewards.
b. More Community and Competition
Leaderboards, chat, clans, and amateur tournaments have become popular with gaming platforms operating one competition or the other at any given time. The platforms also allow players to share their scores, which helps create friendly competition within the gaming community. Even daily games now have a competitive element, the competition being the main draw. Thus, playing now includes watching, interacting, and engaging socially, and is not always restricted to one person and their device.
c. Pressure to ‘Get Good’
Casual spaces are steadily becoming more competitive as friendly tournaments are being used to draw in more players. Thus, casual gamers often either feel left behind or more motivated, depending on their skills, engagement, and leaderboard position. With higher skill ceilings and steeper learning curves, more people are looking for tutorials, strategy content, and communities to join to improve their skills.
Opportunities for Casual Players
However, increased accessibility to games and the pressure to build their skills are bringing forth the following opportunities:
- More pathways are being opened to people who wish to participate in competitive play (ranked ladders, amateur leagues).
- Community tournaments and streaming are acting as an entry point to the world of competitive esports.
- Joining teams, Discord groups, and gaming communities comes with the social benefits of finding like-minded peer groups.
- Esports have created new job opportunities such as casting, moderating, analytics, coaching, even for non-pros.
- Game streaming, live competitions, affiliate links, referrals, and rewards act as monetization strategies, especially in esports.
Challenges for Casual Gamers
While opportunities are many, both esports and iGaming come with certain challenges, which include:
- Increased pressure to perform and win in competitive modes.
- Investing in time and gear (better devices and accessories).
- Game balancing issues between casual and pro-friendly mechanics.
- Feeling left out in games focused on high-stakes esports.
- The risk of showing addictive or toxic behavior in competitive settings.
- Cost of participation can add up (microtransactions, pay-to-win concerns).
- Legality and regulations around iGaming vary per country and territory.
Thus, whether players are engaging as casual gamers or wish to join the leagues of the pros, they need to be mindful and aware of the challenges that are associated with both esports and iGaming.
How Game Developers Are Balancing Both Worlds
To counter the abovementioned challenges, game developers are using the following to help players maintain balance:
- Separating casual and ranked modes, and not using the same benchmarks to judge the skills of the players in both.
- Offering multiple matches and events on platforms that cater to each skill level, and mentioning the skill level necessary against the events.
- Having in-game events that tie into esports without alienating non-pros.
- Enabling skill-based matchmaking to ensure fair competition.
- Improving onboarding for new players with welcome rewards, tutorials, and in-game prompts.
These can help casual gamers actually enjoy the game without falling prey to the intense competition and feeling either demotivated or addicted to the game.
Wrapping Up
Esports and iGames are creating a vibrant, fast-evolving space. As such, casual gamers now have more options, more rewards, but this has also made competition stiff on most platforms. The key to balanced gaming is actually to enjoy the game and play for entertainment, but know the stakes.
iGaming and Esports for Casual Gamers
Are you a casual gamer who wishes to dabble in iGaming or Esports? Go through the games available and join one of your choice today!