eSports and traditional football. It’s a new rivalry and yet a lasting one. Is there any way for them to merge? We’re breaking what audiences are getting from eSports and traditional football, and can they ever overlap?
Getting different things from watching the game
FIFA console games today have shifted away from the idea of simply placing the (console) player in the place of one of the (team) players and calling it a day. In order to expand the game, more and more have the (console) players in fact been put in the managerial role. They can put a team together, work out strategies, analyse (team) players, see what’s working and what isn’t, adjust and ultimately act out their own Premier League.
Watchers of eSports appreciate the game’s analytics, wondering why the player made that move and what the result of it was. You could argue that there is an element of that in traditional football, but it takes a back seat to the feverish appreciation of the action, which is slow to fade.
Getting different things from playing the game
Players of console games and watchers of traditional football overlap when it comes to FIFA games, looking for the cheapest Premier League tickets and for tickets to competitive FIFA events. If you’re a football fan, no doubt you’ve been hit with the crushing blow of watching your team lose, again, and perhaps have turned to the FIFA games to act out how you would do it if you were in charge.
These FIFA players would describe the feeling of knowing you have had a hand in getting your team to victory. Whereas players of traditional football, if only for the lads to get together for a night, are looking for some companionship, some exercise they enjoy, and the endorphins that come with exercise.
Separate but equal … for now
If you were to ask anyone that was interested in either eSports or football if they think one could rival the other, the answer undoubtedly would be “no”. These are two separate demographics where the platform has informed their tastes. eSports fans, even football eSports fans, are likely to come to the sport as a stop on the route from Fortnite, CS:GO and other AAA battle arenas, whereas football is inherent in nature. You got taken to your first football game by your family as a rite of passage or coming of age milestone.
Each of these ideals demonstrates a difference in attitude to the game. They would tell you that they appreciate the game’s strategy or the thrill of being there, yet they would have trouble relating to much else on the opposing platform.
There is a chance that this can change. There was a time, for example, where the jock bullied the game-playing geek in the playground, or so John Hughes movies would tell you, but the jock nowadays is just as likely to go home and stick on a game to unwind. Maybe a merging of demographics is on the horizon.
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