The video game industry is quite competitive and the e-sports sector does not make a difference, having a multidisciplinary team, budget and creative ideas will help to have a quality and successful product.
The video game industry consolidates year after year in the world, Mexico is no exception, in 2019 it reached a market value of $ 32,262 million pesos, with an annual growth of 19.3% *. In the case of e-sports it is not the exception, this segment focused on sports games electronically, last year grew by 25%, becoming a very attractive sector of this industry.
So, if you are considering starting an e-sport video game, Juan Gabriel Gomila , video game development expert and instructor at Udemy , the world’s largest online training platform, introduces you to the four key aspects that you should take into account. when working on the project to be successful and enter the world of e-sports.
1-Connectivity
To create a virtual video game that can be able to run between various devices such as consoles, computers or mobile devices, as well as allow several players to compete from different points. It is important to have knowledge of server architecture and online connection, as well as programming languages such as Java, PHP or Python, with SQL databases, to mount the architecture on a server that allows players to connect, join and face with others, as well as being able to upload the information of each one. This aspect is essential, and regardless of the technology, the key is to offer a real-time connection to avoid disadvantageous situations due to latency or connection delay.
In the part of databases, nowadays relational models are usually chosen to offer a robust architecture where all the information related to players, competitions and rewards is stored in a structured way. However, the analysis of this data (the famous big data) is done with unstructured copies of the events that are stored in the database and that allow e-sport to improve, evolve and become more and more realistic.
2-Clients
These will be the players that connect and will always seek to develop visually appealing graphics. To achieve this, you can choose to use graphic game engines such as Unity or Unreal Engine, both are simple and fast when using them. Another option would be to opt for an in-house design with its own language for a specific platform, which requires a larger team and more investment.
Nowadays, the use of either of the two motors is usually chosen, since they relieve the burden of having a team by creating a customized visual environment, in addition to having not only extensive documentation for the use of these, but also allows the use of stores and assets to be able to download and avoid having to start a development from scratch. In this sense, mastering one of these engines is putting yourself at the forefront of video game development and combining these programming techniques with those of the previous block, allows carrying out a full functional development of a quality product, as has been seen in recent years in some of the largest franchises in the industry.
3-Art
Have a team that has the ability to create ad hoc digital content for the project that represents the characters, settings, landscapes, etc. , with programs such as Maya, Blender and 3D Max. In addition to looking for them to be realistic and visually appealing to players, they must also be light enough to avoid problems when developing the game and competition in real time.
You need realism, but also efficiency, so it is not enough to have good artistic taste and master these content creation tools, you must know how to take them to the next level and combine them with the client engines, in order to bring art to life. and finalize product development.
4-Marketing and marketing
S on so essential to ensure the success of the game as the idea and developing this . Having an area focused on marketing and finding sponsors is essential to get enough money for an e-sport project to succeed, the main objective will always be to generate critical mass (greater number of players), to ensure success.
Many times this aspect is achieved in a very positive way using advergaming. Potential investors add explicit advertising within the video game (as is done in sports and sporting events in real life) and thus expose players to the brand name, thus giving a positive view of it and getting greater exposure, at the same time that they finance an e-sport with its own name.
The video game industry is quite competitive and the e-sports sector does not make a difference, having a multidisciplinary team, budget and creative ideas will help to have a quality and successful product.
