Disclaimer: The article below is to tickle your souls and question your motive. Never take it too literally. Understand this is simply a perspective that could be taken, and not one that I stand with. I continue to have hopes for E-Sports and will work for it if given the opportunities. All in all, this is just a GotFrag article for our faithful readers.

This article aims to address an issue that some seem to already have an answer to, and others who are having problems with identifying their priorities. The article provides a rationale as to why the future of E-Sports might stall and why those who strive to be a ‘professional’ gamer should move on before it’s too late.

The direction of competitive video gaming since it first began with its online leagues has only been moving forward at an accelerated pace. It seems only logical to extrapolate this positive correlation and interpret that eventually competitive video gaming will become a sport that is socially and commercially recognized. Modern gaming teams are transforming into organizations and minor corporations to accommodate the growing demand and interest of potential companies and sponsors who are becoming more aware of the video gaming scene.
Again, the future of ‘E-Sports’ seems promising, big companies are beginning to sponsor some of the best teams in the world to compete in international competitions. Similarly, event organizers like the CPL are pouring consistent effort into improving the competitive scene to raise awareness and money. Even third world countries are becoming more involved in these events and competitions which can only mean an increasing growth rate for E-Sports.

Looking closely, the direction of E-Sports is slowly commercializing, teams are becoming Incorporates. Gaming leagues are run by limited liabilities. The right path is being taken; it requires a business to get business.

A corporate lawyer that deals with risk assessments of marketing schemes told me a few reasons as to why his company is holding back to be involved with sponsoring a ‘professional’ gaming team. Before we dive in this matter it is a good time to ask ourselves as to why monopolies such as Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Level3 and Google are not actively involved in the market. Could it be because smaller companies like NVIDIA and ATI have already infiltrated the market? Even more reasonably, could it be because their products do not target the audience within the E-Sports community. If so, then we should ask ourselves why companies like Kappa, who are not technology-based, would tap into such a spontaneous market, or Subway would throw money out to promote its food? In the end the logic is simple: everyone wears clothes and everyone eats. It’s a matter of what brand to buy when deciding to buy clothes and what fast food to eat when hungry.
However, bringing back the anonymous senior, some companies choose not to tap into the competitive gaming market based on a very simple accounting ratio: the cost to revenue is low and non-profitable. The cost of marketing and financing a good marketing scheme either through sponsorships and other means would not provide a good turnover in revenue in the long run. Again, this is based on the competitive gaming scheme and not video gaming in general. Video gaming in general is a big market; companies throw millions of dollars into that market. However the competitive side; that is, the ‘E-Sports’ side is only a small percentile of the totality – in the eye of a business developer, throwing money in the market can be more of a risk than a reward.

New games that use more advanced technologies are made; Businesses make a killing by providing products that cater to these advancements. They target the leisure gamers and the parents that spoil them. E-Sports can never be stable in this case, new leagues will always form for new games, teams and gamers will move to other games in the future when there’s better prize money.

This then can become a problem, gaming organizations that wish to catch the eyes of potential investors will have huge problems providing financial statements that would make investors believe there will be a rise in the equity. Likewise, teams without equity will have a hard time paying off liabilities such as the wages of their players and staff. In the end, without money a team can only be a team for so long. Player contracts would eventually end, managers will have problems paying their players and teams would eventually diminish. The only change investors like is growth, organizations changing focus on another game simply means a demand for more funding and reimplementation for marketing and management. That’s a no-no to investors and sponsors.

E-Sports will eventually come to a halt, it will not die because it's always changing from one game to another, instead it will stop growing. The cycle will continue, teams will form and teams will diminish. Organizations will have problems with funding yet keen motivated talents will take over and try again. In the end, there will be one hit wonders but there won’t be the Lakers or the Patriots.

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What should ‘Professional’ gamers and what those who want to become one do now? Don’t take it too seriously. It is best to move on once you’ve reached the spotlight and soaked the admiration. The future of professional gamers only reaches a certain point of limited income and low salaries with small bonuses. When companies decide to move on to make another killing, so would teams and organizations that are funded by these companies. Inevitably, the once star whom went undefeated for years will be forgotten and desperate for a new living. The only asset we can get now is education, hourly-paid jobs will only remain hourly paid. Education however can lead to a more realistic future. An hour of gaming is an hour less of education. No matter how good one is with time management, fitting 'professional gaming' hours into a busy schedule is time well managed but not time well spent.

What then is the next step for E-Sports? The fact is, E-Sports is not an entity at all compared to other sports, and it has no say in its future. The future of E-Sports is determined by powerful organizations beyond our reach as of now. Moreover, until the day one of us becomes a member of the Walton’s family or a billionaire who decides to stabilize E-Sports, there really is no future of further growth. Gaming will remain leisure, leisure gamers will remain the target of money-hungry companies. Professional gamers will have no place to stand.