Viewership is up for some games and down for others. But at least playing pays well in India. Read more.
StreamHatchet continues to bring the latest trends on viewership regarding the top ten most-streamed games. The games that continue to dominate the top three slots are all more than six years old each. But they maintain their position due to constant releases and loyal fan bases.
Top five
Growing titles: Of those games on the list, FIFA showed the greatest increase with a 141% jump to 14 million hours watched. This is likely because of the TOTY winners announcement and event kickoff on January 6th. CS:GO went up by nearly 33% with just under 13 million hours watched and actually fell down one spot. Dota 2 held the Bukovel Minor, which generated some substantial viewership growth at 63.55% to more than 12 million hours watched.
Declining titles:Fortnite maintains its high placement despite declining nearly 8% in viewership to 17 million hours watched. PUBG Mobile dropped 7.23$ to 15 million hours watched, but maintained its spot on the list. Escape from Tarkov dropped 53.80% to just short of 15 million hours watched, a big dive over last week when it first hit the #1 spot.
2019 has been a big year for esports in many regards. But for less-established regions like India, the effect has been incredible this year. Despite the massive population in India, the country was isolated from the global esports market and kept to small local communities and offline events.
In the beginning: It wasn’t until 2017 when DreamHack Mumbai became the first international tournament to grace the country. Since then, things have been on a massive increase. In 2018, India hosted three international events: ELS One Mumbai, COBX Masters, and DreamHack Delhi. Prize pools for these events saw an increase of more than 180%, from just about $500,000 in 2018 to more than $1.5 million in 2019.
Reasons behind this shift: A major component contributing to this steep rise is due to PUBG Mobile, a game that is more than just a game in India. This country is at the forefront for downloads and player base.
It’s practically impossible to consider the game without its Indian player base, which only makes us wonder how esports will shape up for the country in 2020.
Voice actress Andrea Arruti passed away recently for unknown reasons. She was most-known in the esports industry for her work on League of Legends’ Neeko champion on the Latin America server.
Other work: In addition, she’s voiced characters in many animated children’s shows, such as Jake and the Never Land Pirate series, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. One of her most prominent roles was voicing Elsa in the Latin American version of the popular movie, Frozen.
Roundhill Take: Blizzard signs three-year deal with ESL, Dreamhack (Gamesindustry.biz) — ESL and DreamHack have signed a 3-year deal with Blizzard Entertainment to run ESL Pro Tours for StarCraft II and Warcraft III: Reforged. Following the successful introduction of the ESL Pro Tour for CS:GO in September 2019, the two titles are the second and third to be incorporated into ESL’s global circuit. This deal highlights ESL’s strategic value as a league and tournament operator, as Blizzard migrates Starcraft esports from in-house to third-party.
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The university recently added its own esports program, recruiting 15 athletes over a matter of months. Montevallo’s approach is different from other universities because it is fully-sanctioned and university-sponsored. Larger campuses adopt a club-style approach, which is then dependent on student support. UM’s program treats its players like well-rounded college athletes.
More on the program: Many of the students are receiving scholarships to play for the team. But what many more are surprised to find out is that there’s a physical training regimen associated. Players are expected to use the gym facilities to avoid repetitive stress injuries and increase stamina and overall fitness. After all, esports leagues are numerous and lengthy, which means the students need to have a high level of energy to perform well both academically and in the esporting circuit.
Games played: Currently, the team’s main focus is on League of Legends. Since the program was first started several months ago, the team has had the opportunity to compete against several top collegiate esports teams across the country. But there’s still plenty of opportunity for growth and improvement.
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