How VR will change the way we watch eSports

As virtual reality headsets become more widespread and mainstream, it’s time to consider how they’ll interact with eSports and pro-gaming, one of the fastest-growing forms of entertainment in gaming.

Currently, the eSports industry is quickly growing towards becoming a billion dollar industry by 2017, according to market analysts at SuperData Research. And, as many of the latest laptops are now powerful enough to run VR devices, some companies have tried to nest themselves at the intersection between VR and eSports.

SLIVER.tv

SLIVER.tv footage, courtesy of YouTube

One such company is SLIVER.tv, a media platform which enables users to record, view and stream eSports games in fully immersive, 360-degree virtual reality.

The platform launched at the end of August. At the moment, the platform supports Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and Dota 2, three of the most popular and exciting eSports to watch. Their technology will allow the audience to immerse themselves inside the game world and enable them to watch the match and follow their favourite players in a completely new way.

The present

However, a lot of this is some way off. Currently, the tech only works with mobile devices and Google Cardboard, but the company’s website promises it will soon support many devices including the Samsung Gear VR, the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive.

Also, in games that don’t currently support VR, SLIVER.tv’s tech only works during playback, when the company is able to add “virtual cameras” around points of action that viewers can look at in 360-degrees, meaning in some cases fans would have to wait up to 24 hours for a highlight reel that works with their VR device.

The future

“We’re focused on the intersection between today’s 250 million eSports viewers and the emerging VR market,” said Mitch Liu, founder and CEO of SLIVER.tv, in a press release. "We recognized early on that the existing eSports viewing approach from the player’s point-of-view is not necessarily the best perspective for the audience. Our vision is to transform the eSports spectator experience forever.”

More broadly, VR will allow for several other innovations in the space. In SLIVER.tv’s case, VR will allow gamers to watch what happens inside a game close-up. Other fans might prefer to use their VR device to let them attend the eSport stadium itself – watching the players at their computers, scanning around to see the cheering crowds. This will be great for those who want to attend an eSports match but can't afford to go and be part of the audience, or are in another country from the match they want to see.

And, as new games are released which are designed and built around VR, some of these might emerge as the next big eSport game, creating new leagues and eSport fans. It’s never been a better time to get into eSports: exciting times are ahead.