As a result of the spread of the coronavirus, all sporting events came to a halt, however, the increasingly popular e-sport was not affected. The value of the domestic game market increased by more than HUF 10 million in one year, while nearly four million people play video games in the country – writes Napi. hu.
The interest in competitions has visibly increased, as there is no sport, so those interested will switch to electronic sports broadcasts, said Balázs Bíró, the president of the Hungarian association.
The K&H Hungarian National E-sport Championship continues.
Dániel Hodozsán, the main organizer of the tournament, explained that the transition to online broadcasts was easier in Hungarian e-sports, as online play is already the natural medium for competitive play, even if matches take place in the same space as other sports events.
The HUF 15 million tournaments, sponsored by the Belgian subsidiary of Belgium, show that the domestic demand for e-sports is growing on a large scale.
“E-sports, in the development of which K&H took an active role in Hungary, continued to grow last year as well. Today, the Hungarian e-sports community is more than 540 thousand people, a combined number of e-athletes and supporters, and the market size has increased to HUF 42 billion according to the latest eNET research data, mainly due to hardware and software spending, ”said Lesti. Mónika, Senior Communications Manager of the K&H Group.
Globally, one-million-dollar prizes are not uncommon at all: Johan Sundstein, a Danish leader in global rankings, has made nearly $ 7 million so far with Dota 2.
With 372 internationally registered players registered in Hungary, it ranks 55th in the earnings statistics. The list is led by the United States with more than 16,000 registered players and a total of nearly $ 140 million in earnings.
“Shortly, in parallel with the steady spread of e-sports, we can expect the emergence of more and more detailed sets of rules. In addition to the above, it can already be seen that as a result of the closure due to the epidemiological situation, in addition to hobby athletes, a large number of professional athletes have moved towards e-sports, ”said András Reich, senior manager at Deloitte’s sports business.
As e-sports expands, streaming and broadcast sponsorships are expected to grow on platforms such as Twitch, YouTube Gaming, Facebook Gaming, Mixer, or Smashcast, according to a recent Deloitte market survey. As the new business evolves, new brand names and sponsorship opportunities emerge, especially for brands that are inherently adapted to the typical playful lifestyle, such as hardware manufacturers, energy drinks, or food brands.
