Page 1303 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 3 April 2019
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has morphed into a spectator sport. No longer are these pursuits merely online. E-sports are large-scale tournaments and events that attract thousands of audience members to get involved and to watch the action.
Audience members get to meet the players, watch their skill, learn new tricks for their own gaming and enjoy the atmosphere and arena experience. These tournaments are growing in popularity around the world. We have also seen the emergence of domestic events here in Australia. Last year the Victorian government provided $4.5 million in funding to host Australia’s largest e-sport tournament. The Melbourne Esports Open was a two-day festival that had crowds of more than 10,000. There is already a 2019 waiting list established for the next event.
The Intel Extreme Masters event in Sydney last year was also a massive success. Sixteen international teams battled it out over three days for $310,000 in prize money. These events are serious business. At a local level, we have an Australian Esports Association that was established in 2013. They are working towards having the sport recognised by Sport Australia, as they know that this formal accreditation will help the credibility and reputation of this sport. A secondary aim is to support high-preference level Australian e-sport athletes and to cultivate more pathways for participation.
We have an Australian Esport League, which focuses on grassroots e-sport for high school students, universities and corporate entities, as well as having an Australian category for us veterans in the community. Alongside this is the Esports Games Association of Australia and New Zealand, which again is focused on growing and legitimising e-sports.
Add to this some of the emerging businesses in this space, like e-sport camps, coaching businesses and competition operators; this really is a growing area. Australia even had its first dedicated e-sports arena opened in inner Sydney, with an old movie theatre retrofitted with an elevated stage and massive LED screens. This venue now hosts competitions using the three most popular games—Street Fighter, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive-, and Rocket League. Six teams compete in front of an audience, prize money is awarded and the show is also broadcast on Twitch.tv, where fans can engage and comment on the action. These things are already happening. I am afraid that once again Canberra is falling behind.
Sadly, Mr Pettersson’s motion calling on the government “to investigate the possibility of developing a strategy” does not really provide sufficient structure or faith that this important area of sports, tourism and innovation will be assessed. Equally, I believe that the focus of Mr Pettersson’s motion is too outward looking.
Instead, I think we can direct much more effort to things happening here in Canberra in local clubs, groups and emerging technology businesses. Mr Pettersson’s motion is based on an article, I suspect from the United States, and makes little to no reference to what is happening in our own backyard. It makes no real commitment to investment in this growth area and provides nothing of substance to the gaming community about what the future might entail.
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