Although esports have 427 million spectators worldwide and revenues approaching $1 billion, this is niche compared to the $138 billion that will be spent on electronic games in 2018. With its massive adoption, can smart phones take esports into the mainstream gaming or sports markets?

esports are a form of organized competition using multiplayer video games. Although organized online and offline competitions have long been a part of video game culture vibe, these were largely between amateurs until the late 2000s when participation by professional gamers and spectatorship in these events through live streaming through platforms such as Panda.tv, YouTube and Twitch.tv, saw a huge surge in popularity.

The most common genres associated with esports are real-time strategy (RTS), first-person shooter (FPS, fighting and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA). It includes titles such as League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike, Global Offensive and Call of Duty, and with tournaments such as the League of Legends World Championship and the Intel Extreme Masers providing live broadcasts of the competition and prize money to competitors

 The professional esports business model works along similar lines to those of traditional pro sports, with owners investing in their professional esports teams and leagues. Revenue comes in the form of selling broadcast rights and tickets to live competitions (that have filled major pro sports arenas).

 To put this into perspective, there were 2.3 billion active gamers in 2018. Mobile game spending itself has grown massively with 25.1% year on year growth, now representing about 50% of all games spending in this $138 billion market, according to research firm Newzoo.

 The esports industry is pinning its hopes on mobile to drive growth. “We firmly believe that mobile is the future of competitive gaming,” said Noah Whinston, 23, CEO of Immortals, a top esports organization. There were 4.3 billion worldwide smartphone subscriptions in 2017 whch is expected to grow to 7.2 billion by 2023, according to last June’s Ericsson Mobility Report.

esports would need to start appealing to a broader demographic for it to become mainstream. Major League Gaming has reported viewership that is approximately 85% male and 15% female, with a majority of viewers between the ages of 18 and 34. Despite this, several female personalities within e-sports are hopeful about the increasing presence of female gamers.

South Korea has several established e-sports organizations, which have licensed pro gamers since the year 2000. Recognition of e-sports competitions outside South Korea has come somewhat slower. Along with South Korea, most competitions take place in Europe, North America and China. Despite its large video game market, e-sports in Japan is relatively underdeveloped, which has been attributed largely to its broad anti-gambling laws which prohibit paid professional gaming tournaments.

Another question is whether the screen size and control scheme of smart phones will be limiting factors in mobile games establishing themselves as mainstream esports. “I don’t think mobile ever becomes a big deal. If you can watch a movie in Imax or on your phone, which one are you going to do? The best experience is always going to be on a large screen,” according to Michael Pachter, research analyst at Wedbush Securities.

The esports industry has challenges that it has to surmount to become mainstream and therefore cannot rely purely on smartphone adoption to massively increase its spectator base.