Esports Predictions for 2022

Esports is a global phenomenon. It has become a highly lucrative sector, generating more money than music and movies combined. In 2020, it is reported that more than 46 million people globally tuned in to watch an epic esports showdown between South Korea and China in the Grand Finals of the League of Legends World Championships. While most esports today is based on classical video games, there is a change underway that I believe will happen quickly, as described in my first prediction.

Prediction 1: The growth of mixed reality (physical and virtual) esports

I expect to see a rapid increase in esports players competing in a combination of the virtual and physical space. We have already seen people wearing virtual reality (VR) helmets in the physical environment in gameshows and entertainment programs — for example where a blank space is populated via VR — and esports will evolve in the same direction. There’s a lot of hype around this at the moment as competitors discover the fun of mixed reality competitive gaming.

Prediction 2: More mixed-gender teams

I would love to see more mixed teams taking part in top esports competitions. Currently, we typically see all-male teams competing against all-male teams, but there is a move towards mixed gender teams. With figures suggesting nearly half the world’s gamers are women and girls, there’s no reason why this shouldn’t be the case.

Prediction 3: Esports personalities enter the corporate space

We’re all used to annual conferences where sports personalities are invited to motivate the audience with advice and anecdotes about how they’ve made it to the top of their profession. From teamwork and training to nutrition and mental stamina, their success stories inspire and enthuse audiences. Why not esports professionals? In Asia, they’re already treated like soccer stars and their popularity is growing in Europe too. I expect to see more gamers being invited on to the corporate stage over the next year.

Prediction 4: Say hello to the metaverse

A game in a game. The internet is moving into a new era as the metaverse offers digital interactions for socializing, trading, working, collaborating — and gaming. I predict a lot of metaverse propositions for gaming in fantasy worlds with immersive experiences. This will accelerate the development of metaverse-based games in the coming year.

Prediction 5: Accelerating growth

Gaming isn’t new. In fact, the first esports event took place back in October 1972 at Stamford University. Fast forward fifty years and the industry is worth significantly more now than it was then. In 2020, global esports revenues reached $1.1B, representing a year-over-year growth of almost 16 percent. In a rapidly growing subsection of the gaming industry, I expect this growth to accelerate still further in 2022 and beyond, with some figures suggesting the market will reach $6.82B by 2027.

Sogeti’s involvement in esports

You may be wondering why the CTO of Sogeti in France is writing a blog about esports. The truth is that gaming has always been part of life at Sogeti. We believe it brings value at several levels, from giving colleagues a vehicle to enjoy and meet each other, to ensuring we’re where we need to be to attract the best digital talent. Esports is also a useful aid in skills development, such as cybersecurity. For example, ‘capture the flag’ competitions encourage ethical hackers to test and hone their skills. At Sogeti, we launched our Cyber E-scape game back in 2019, challenging ethical hackers, crypto experts, malware analysts and more to a breakout game. Coding competitions too encourage coders to take on various challenges that can extend their skills. Plus, I admit I have a passion for esports!