In this episode, we discuss Gucci flirting with esports by inviting Fnatic to sit front row at their show, Riot Games starting a tabletop gaming division, a store opening in NJ that sells rare video games and consoles, Pokimane receiving her own Fortnite emote, esports being hard to watch, Allied raising $5M from Brookfield Property Partners, and so much more with special guest Murph Vandervelde!
Episode #61: Gucci Front Row, Riot Board Games, Pokimane Emote, Watching Esports
To be fair to OWL they did color code teams, skins, ui elements and ability effects to make it easier to see what’s going on. They also have games modes designed to encourage a focal point. The Blair-witch-on-acid camera motion and millions of things happening when in first person view is what turned me off. It’s a very steep learning curve to even get surface appreciation vs something like football.
In the pro paintball world they’ve been struggling with watchability for decades now, failing at ESPN deals over and over. There are major issues with focal point and the 180 rule even despite widespread familiarity among the target demo with what paintball is, how CTF works, e.t.c so I’d disagree that mass education is the #1 issue. Football has loads of depth, but the learning curve starts flat. Soccer has a near zero curve.
Sports videography and storytelling is an area I’m hugely interested in, though my background is in children’s television. If you could get a trad sports live director on to give their thoughts on esports that would be fascinating, though perhaps outside the scope of the podcast?