The most successful Web3 implementations in eSport

In just a few decades eSport, once considered to be a simple geek hobby, transformed into a thriving industry with a massive army of fans and enormous profits from sponsorships, streaming, and merchandise. The sources claim that the total revenue in this emerging industry will account for a whopping amount of $1,6B in 2023, while the total number of viewers is expected to exceed 600M by 2025.

These numbers may back up the recent statements saying that the IOC is closely watching the new practice and admits that eSport may be included into the official program after the Los Angeles games in 2028. 

Despite its relatively young age and outstanding achievements, eSport is also facing a number of challenges. The list of the issues that set back the development of the new industry includes cheating and athletes’ dishonest behavior, and uneven revenue distribution. While most of the profits go to the game publishers, athletes have to enjoy  relatively modest earnings.

Web3 technologies, like smart contracts and crypto, can bring more transparency to all the processes inside the eSport and introduce more efficient solutions for accounting, ticketing, betting, and scoring. These measures can significantly strengthen trust in eSports, and, as a result, participants will be more willing to engage with the new environment. On the other hand, eSport also requires more content to attract more people to the space, and crypto could motivate creators to provide it.

As you can see, eSport can certainly benefit from crypto solutions. And, moreover, there are some live initiatives exploring the benefits of cooperation between these two spheres. In this article, we’ll explore the most prominent Web3 implementations in eSport.

Host-to-Earn from ESPL

Esports Players League (ESPL) is the first Web2 platform to introduce crypto technologies and features. Last January, ESPL rolled out its brand-new Host-to-Earn model which allows to hold online game competitions and distribute rewards in the $ARENA token in a transparent and fair way. The new platform is free for users and offers some additional features, like controlled access for organizing public and private events, or escrow service for dispute resolution.

The platform is open for different participants, including seasoned event organizers, guilds, or simple enthusiasts trying to get experience in holding competitions.

Fractal’s tournament platform 

The Fractal marketplace is a well-known destination for many Web3 game enthusiasts. At the same time, the platform also holds eSport championships for different Web3 games, including EV.IO, Blast Royale, etc. The tournaments have lucrative prize pools up to $5,000. Players can find more information about new events on the platform’s Medium.

Community Gaming

If you choose to organize your event on Community Gaming, you will be able to select fiat or crypto for prize distribution. At the moment, there are three networks available for users: Polygon, Ethereum, and BNB Chain. On top of that, event organizers can seek financial support from the platform to boost the available prize pool or ask the platform’s representatives to spread a word about the competition on socials and via mailing.

INDI.GG

INDI.GG is a famous Web3 gaming guild which was recently bought by Manish Agarwal’s Kratos Studios in order to build the most powerful gaming DAO with more than half billion gamers from India. INDI.GG also hosts some eSport competitions. You can join the DAOs discord to participate in the most interesting events.

Stadium

Stadium by BLVKHVND DAO is developing a dapp and a permissionless event protocol on Ethereum. After the final release, the Stadium users will be able to hold competitions in different games or establish and manage decentralized leagues and alliances. Stadium will also include a database of players with their achievements. At the moment, you can already follow some competitions, like Gods Unchained and Stadium Spartan Series, which are already live on the platform.

PlayFi by NOR

NOR is another team which is building an eSports platform with its native games. There’s little information about these titles, but the team says that the games will be easy to learn and play but hard to master. Gamers will be able to demonstrate their skills on the arena. However, they won’t be able to use any boosters or respawn in case of death.

The platform won’t feature any pay-to-win mechanics, but NOR plans to implement crypto solutions to separate different types of participants, including citizens playing and participating in the economy, athletes competing in tournaments, and developers building games for the ecosystem. Special NFTs, or the Aspects, will represent the only way to support athletes, stream competitions, or participate in the ecosystem in other ways.

Final thoughts

Some gamers may indeed have a negative attitude towards crypto and NFT implementations in games which can be partially attributed to the first Web3 gaming experiences mostly focused on earning rewards rather than entertaining players. At the same time, we have to say that Web2 game developers also leverage aggressive monetization tactics and pay-to-win mechanics. As a result, gamers tend to shy away from these titles due to the lack of competitiveness. Monetization efforts should definitely be balanced in both Web2 and Web3 games. And, in this regard, PlayFi by Nor seems to be a perfect example of achieving this.

At the same time, Web3 implementations can make eSport routine and procedures seamless and transparent for users. They can also bring more effective solutions for accounting, management, and betting. We have already seen some live Web3 implementations in eSports, like the Host-to-Earn model by ESPL, or Fractal’s competitions. And we certainly expect more products and applications to be rolled out in the near future.

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