Commonwealth Esports Championships mark new era for professional gaming

In an exciting first for the gaming community, eSports are featuring at the Commonwealth Games. Elite players of Dota 2, Rocket League and eFootball will face off on 6 and 7 August as the worlds of sport and gaming continue to converge.

Esports’ growing popularity

The inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships follow last year’s successful Global Esports Games, which generated over 500 million views. With its incredible opening ceremony, the Singapore-based event showcased how the fast-growing interest in the sport is being perpetuated by emerging technologies like the metaverse, NFTs and cryptocurrencies.

As its popularity grows and with some teams now worth over $540m, industry leaders like Sony Interactive Entertainment continue to innovate and invest in technologies that enhance the esports experience and help players develop critical skills.

Exciting esports innovations

One recent patent application relates to a replay system that offers ‘what if’ scenarios to players, advising them on the different choices they could have made which may have resulted in alternate outcomes. This seems geared towards helping players learn from mistakes to improve their responses in competitive environments. The patent was granted in the US on 28 June 2022.

In February 2022, Esports Technologies, Inc (now EBET, INC.) announced that it had filed a patent application directed to a method for harnessing quantum computing power to help players predict opposing team compositions, arming players with crucial strategic information that could reveal the path to victory.

Innovation is also being geared towards online safety. Particularly important in popular esports titles, where players can interact in a multitude of ways, one further new patent application filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment appears to track user behaviour to identify those who engage negatively with others. With harassment becoming an increasing concern for both gamers and parents, this could mark a step change the ability of gaming companies to help players stay safe.

Much more to come

The Commonwealth Esports Championships will hopefully help to bring many new eyes to the professional gaming scene. And with the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon all making inroads into gaming, we could soon see a host of new opportunities to watch esports.

As esports continue to permeate mainstream entertainment, it’s important for teams and gaming companies alike to know how to protect their brand assets and software-related innovations.

To get tailored advice for your innovation, brand or team, get in touch with me for a free initial chat.