Skip to content

Event business launching Australian esports league

Is this an esports league or a marketing exercise?

Seamus Byrne
Seamus Byrne
1 min read
Event business launching Australian esports league

Is this an esports league or a marketing exercise?

From Mumbrella:

Commencing in summer of 2018, the new franchise teams are Adelaide Photonics, Brisbane Deceptors, Melbourne Metattak, Melbourne Rebolte, Perth Subnets, Sydney Blue Surge and Sydney Opsydian.

I'm generally a positive customer, but there's not much I can pull from this that looks good.

Everything about this screams of a team who don't know games and are trying to guess what fans would like. But why only pander to a niche -- a niche that doesn't really exist in the way they seem to think -- instead of create something that makes the whole idea feel welcoming, with team names that sound like any classic 'support your local team' sports environment, not some cyber-weird alt-punk world that no one feels at home in.

I'd love city-based esports leagues to take off. This just feels so marketing driven by people who are trying to reach 'young people' they don't currently reach, missing that these people have an amazing radar for cynical marketing ploys.

Build the esports league. Do that well and people who already love esports will come. Build it in a way that opens up the fandom to non-endemic fans and you'll build something that goes well beyond the niche.

GamesBusinessEsports

Seamus Byrne Twitter

Founder and Head of Content at Byteside.


Related Posts

Microsoft Flight Simulator gets a Dune expansion

There are a lot of games getting totally carried away with IP tie-ins. There's plenty I like, there's plenty more that are real head scratchers on why they exist. One of the best I've ever seen has to be this new update for Microsoft

Geometry Wars mixed with Vampire Survivors? Yes please

Geometry Survivor is out now: A "rogue-lite auto-shooter" that looks super fun. Seemingly a blend of the Xbox classic Geometry Wars and Vampire Survivors, take a look at the trailer and you'll know if it's for you or not. It's on Xbox,

Jabra gear converges on a hybrid work audio sweet spot

Not every business accessory maker is getting this hybrid work era right, but it's great to see Jabra is adapting its line up very nicely to the new era.

Jabra Speak2 75 Bluetooth speakerphone sitting on a table next to a laptop