eSports and video games lawyer Jas Purewal provides a brief introduction to some of the key business players and legal issues in eSports (originally presented at Casual Connect Europe 2016)
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eSports business and law (in 20 minutes)
1. The business and law of
eSports (in 20 minutes)
Jas Purewal
Casual Connect Europe
17 Feb 2016
2. What we’ll discuss
2
1. eSports: some numbers
2. Key players in eSports
3. Legal stuff and where eSports needs to
evolve
4. Business opportunities in eSports
5. The opportunities for developers
3. About me
3
I’m a video games and eSports lawyer. Over a decade in international law firms in
London, mainland Europe and Silicon Valley, then founded Purewal & Partners, the
first European firm to specialise solely in these areas, in 2014.
I have advised nearly all parts of the eSports ecosystem including players, clubs,
broadcasters, event organisers and brands over the last 5 years.
I <3 eSports: Hearthstone (OK), Starcraft 2 (badly), CS:GO & DOTA (don’t ask).
Come say hi: @gamerlaw.
4. eSports: just a few numbers
4
• c.500,000 years of Twitch videos were streamed in 2015 alone! (Twitch)
• Market revenue? eSports revenue estimates for 2014: $194m, 2015:
$325m; 2016: $465m; 2019: $1bn? (Newzoo)
• Hearthstone has around 40m registered accounts and monthly revenue
of at least $20-30m (Superdata; IGN)
• Riot’s 2015 estimated revenue for League of Legends was $1.6bn. By
comparison: DOTA 2 c. $238m and CS:GO $221m? (Superdata)
5. Some key players in eSports: developers
and publishers
5
Giants
Indies
Big
publishers?
6. Some top clubs (right now)
6
SKT T1 (Korea) EHOME (China) NiP (Sweden)
ROX Tigers (Korea) Evil Geniuses
(US)
LDLC (French)
Immortals (US) Alliance
(Sweden)
Fnatic (Sweden)
Edward Gaming
(China)
OG (EU) EnVyUs (French)
ahq e-Sports Club
(Taiwan)
LGD (China) TSM (US)
League of Legends: http://www.gosugamers.net/lol/rankings DOTA 2: http://www.gosugamers.net/dota2/rankings CSGO: http://www.hltv.org/?pageid=182
8. Club/player remuneration
8
(NB figures are an approx. range based on emergent industry trends – not universal!)
• Tournament proceeds (10-20% cut to club; 90-100% to players)
• Team sponsorship/merchandise (100% to club)
• Player sponsorship/merchandise (100% to player, but deals fairly rare still)
• Streaming (c. 90-100% to player)
• Stickers/virtual items (negotiated)
12. Legal stuff and the evolution of eSports
12
• Player/team matters
• Commercialisation problems
• Broadcast regulation/media rights
• Integrity issues (cheating, doping etc.)
• Socio-legal questions, e.g. child
protection, gambling, alcohol/adult
content
• Common standards
• Who’s minding the shop?
Image credit: Rockstar Games / http://www.slowdown.vg/2009/11/17/red-dead-redemption/
13. Some opportunities in eSports
13
• Content
• Player representation
• Clubs
• Broadcast and VODs
• eSports ecommerce
• eSports marketing/sponsorship
Image credit: icanhascheezburger.com / http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0835/8481/files/gold-in-them-thar-hills_large.jpg?10655207184190921500
14. Content opportunities for developers in
eSports
14
• All major eSports to date have been largely retrofitted for eSports.
• All the indicators point to substantial eSports growth.
• eSports is still waiting for its ‘Supercell moment’ – could it be you?
BUT…
• eSports ≠ F2P. In fact, eSports ≠ video games.
• Building an eSports-first game is hard, risky and with unique design issues.
• There will be competition (back to that Supercell moment).
• Cooperation with key eSports player and understanding the market will be key.
• Want moar tips? Drop me a line…
15. Thanks!
15
Jas Purewal
Partner
Purewal & Partners LLP
............................................................
E: jas@purewalandpartners.com
W: www.purewalandpartners.com
T: @gamerlaw
A: 1 Fore St, London EC2Y 9DT, UK
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