tower rushes mess up the build orders so much that games can't be boring, make 2024 the year of the fat dragonMake feudal towerrush usable again. So aggression in feudal can archiv more and greedy castle age gets deserved punishment.
Summarize rannked,deathmatch,empire wars in a good working lobby so everyone is happy and community is more united - more possibiltys that players try new and different things
Pro scene and competitions are a waste of money and there are no quantifiable benefits from hosting or sponsoring them.If you think the lack of a tournament calendar is bad for AoE II, imagine being an AoE IV pro player and you've had $25,000 in prize pools through Q1 with nothing announced (and rumored to be left out of next RBW). This after having the best selling expansion in the history of the franchise. Like or hate the game, that really sucks.
After all this time I genuinely can't tell what Microsoft is hoping to accomplish with the pro scene. From year to year it ranges from barely coherent to downright incomprehensible. Time will tell what kind of year 2024 is.
Pro scene and competitions are a waste of money and there are no quantifiable benefits from hosting or sponsoring them.
Blizzard figured this out a long time ago and disbanded all their eports initiatives. MS is probably coming to the same realization. Especially post-covid.
The problem with esports is that the product they're trying to sell is the game. Well traditional marketing or simply DLC sells far more copies of the game than hosting an esports tournament. If you compare that to regular sports the product isn't the game but the team or the player.
That's why you buy tickets to watch your favourite team or favourite player play. In esports you don't have to pay anything to watch your favourite team or player. It's just a big hope that it'll attract new people to watch the event adn then result in more sales of the game. Which is what? From 50,000 viewers how many are really new? Even if it's 1000...how many are really going to buy the game? 100? Wow 100 copies of the game sure is going to make back that $100K sponsorship investment lmao
Sorry kids, esports just doesn't make sense in its current format.
If you think the lack of a tournament calendar is bad for AoE II, imagine being an AoE IV pro player and you've had $25,000 in prize pools through Q1 with nothing announced (and rumored to be left out of next RBW).
At some point in future MS will find that DLC sales are not adequate hence will decide to pull the plug on tournaments.
Everyone who is benefiting from current tournaments can continue milking the cow till it goes on.
I dont see financial reasons why some third party would be willing to invest in aoe2
They are still the only big host, but if they want to run big tournaments, they also rely on (Microsoft) funding. I don't know how much money Pesti (owner of EGC) has and wants to spend on it, but I don't think he can/wants to spend $100-200k on AoE 4 every year, so I would estimate that without involvemet of Microsoft and/or RedBull, AoE 4 S-tier tournament prize money would be under $50k per year.What happened to EGC TV? They were committed to keep pumping in money as far as I recall
They are still the only big host, but if they want to run big tournaments, they also rely on (Microsoft) funding. I don't know how much money Pesti (owner of EGC) has and wants to spend on it, but I don't think he can/wants to spend $100-200k on AoE 4 every year, so I would estimate that without involvemet of Microsoft and/or RedBull, AoE 4 S-tier tournament prize money would be under $50k per year.
For AoE 2 I am not that afraid. NAC 5 and HC 5 received more than $100k in donations from private people within 2.5 months. So there are lots of wealthy people who are supporting the big hosts and tournaments. Maybe we won't have $400-500k per year in prize money if there is no or lower Microsoft support, but it can still be $200k, which is a lot for this game, just maybe no $70-100k in one tournament.
The goal of sponsoring tournaments is not necessarily to sell more copies, in AoE 2's case it is most likely a way for Microsoft to keep the current player base happy and engaged, making sure they'll keep buying the DLC's, player icon's, etc.
But I 100% agree a lot people vastly overestimate how much tournaments help the game grow.
Oh and Microsoft is very much aware of this.
That's why pathfinding, or tournament calendars and stuff like that are not a priority.
Prizepool dollar per viewer, AoE2 heavily outperforms SC2 tourneysHow is esports sustainable for Dota, LoL?
Or starcraft, if we are to make more of a 1:1 comparison?
In the long run, it has to be funding from sponsors, ad revenue etc.
I agree it doesn't make much sense for MS to keep pumping in the money themselves.
I cannot understand why it is not possible for aoe2, given it has 50K+ viewership in major S tier tournaments, roughly comparable to SC2.
What is preventing aoe2 from getting the sponsorships?
What is preventing aoe2 from getting the sponsorships?
I would be quite curious about how worth it HOLY Energy deemed their Holy Cup sponsorship. Or Clash of Pets their Clash of Empires. For RB it is clear that they don't make the money back either, but what about companies who sponsor a whole smaller tournament which even has their name in the title?We do!
Red Bull invested who knows how many millions making those LANs in a castle.
They will invest some more this year.
Surfshark sponsored both NAC 5 and HC5.
I do think some sponsors might be sleeping on AoE 2's potential though and that might just be because these massive viewerships are still somewhat new and maybe also because the appetite for sponsorship in the esports industry right now is just very low everywhere...
Its what i say everytime, even I do a post and a lot of people cry.How is esports sustainable for Dota, LoL?
Or starcraft, if we are to make more of a 1:1 comparison?
In the long run, it has to be funding from sponsors, ad revenue etc.
I agree it doesn't make much sense for MS to keep pumping in the money themselves.
I cannot understand why it is not possible for aoe2, given it has 50K+ viewership in major S tier tournaments, roughly comparable to SC2.
What is preventing aoe2 from getting the sponsorships?