[Paper Review] The Evolution of eSports: An Analysis of its origin and a look at its prospective future growth as enhanced by Information Technology Management tools

Anders Hval Olsen|arXiv (Cornell University)|Sep 28, 2015

Digital Games and Media22 citations

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the origins and growth drivers of eSports, identifying key factors such as prize pools, participants, and participating countries as significant influencers of live audience size. It proposes that implementing Data-driven Decision Support Systems using IT management tools can sustain long-term growth, forecasting a 305.51% increase in live audiences and 140.61% in virtual streaming audiences from 2014 to 2019.

ABSTRACT

As the last years have shown a massive growth within the field of electronic sports (eSports), several questions emerge, such as how much is it growing, and will it continue to grow? This research thesis sees this as its statement of problem, and further aims to define and measure the main factors that caused the growth of eSports. To further enhance the growth, the benefits and disbenefits of implementing Information Technology Management tools is appraised, which additionally gives an understanding of the future of eSports. Through observation of the data collection, the themes games played, games genre, and single-player or team-player was deemed most important. A statistical analysis was additionally done on the numerical data, which showed significant correlation between the themes prize pool, participants and participating countries towards live audience. This indicates that the mentioned themes affect how many people attends live eSport event. The analysis also consists of a trend analysis, which presents that nearly every theme analysed will continue to grow in a five-year period. The trend analysis further expects a 305.51% growth in the live audience from 2014-2019, while the virtual streaming audience is expected to experience a growth of 140.61%. To enhance this growth, the research thesis recommends using the presented trends and patterns found in the short-term, to conduct successful eSport events. However, in the long-term an implementation of a Data-driven Decision Support System can be done, which will periodically gather data to know the best possible way to deliver eSport events to the eSport community.

Motivation & Objective

• To investigate the origins and growth factors of eSports in the context of recent market expansion.
• To identify key variables influencing live and virtual audience engagement in eSports events.
• To evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of implementing Information Technology Management tools in eSports event management.
• To forecast future growth trends in eSports using statistical and trend analysis.
• To recommend data-driven strategies for optimizing future eSports event organization.

Proposed method

• Conducting a statistical analysis on numerical data related to prize pools, participants, and participating countries to assess their correlation with live audience size.
• Performing a trend analysis on multiple eSports themes, including game genres, player types, and event formats, over a five-year period (2014–2019).
• Identifying thematic patterns in game types, player configurations (single vs. team), and audience engagement metrics.
• Proposing a Data-driven Decision Support System that periodically collects and analyzes event data to inform optimal event delivery strategies.
• Using observational data collection to prioritize themes with the highest impact on audience growth.
• Applying statistical correlation analysis to determine the influence of specific variables on audience attendance.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the primary factors driving the growth of eSports, particularly in terms of audience attendance?
• RQ2 How do prize pools, number of participants, and participating countries correlate with live audience size?
• RQ3 What role can Information Technology Management tools play in enhancing the scalability and efficiency of eSports events?
• RQ4 What are the projected growth trends for live and virtual eSports audiences from 2014 to 2019?
• RQ5 How can data-driven systems improve long-term decision-making in eSports event planning?

Key findings

• A significant positive correlation was found between prize pool size, number of participants, and participating countries with live audience attendance.
• The live audience is projected to grow by 305.51% from 2014 to 2019, indicating strong momentum in physical event attendance.
• Virtual streaming audiences are expected to grow by 140.61% over the same period, highlighting the expanding digital reach of eSports.
• All analyzed themes—such as game genres, player types, and event formats—are expected to continue growing over the five-year forecast period.
• The implementation of a Data-driven Decision Support System is recommended for long-term optimization of event delivery and audience engagement.
• Short-term success in event organization can be achieved by leveraging observed trends and patterns in audience behavior and event metrics.