Ahri's unqualified thoughts #35

Random articles, quotes, videos, musings. Easy to consume content: 1 quote, 1 tweet/storm and 1 article/video.

In today's edition, we're featuring a tweetstorm talking about the business of esports, and the importance of localizing games.

1 quotable thingy to look brilliant in your next young socialites’ meet-up

“Small-minded people blame others. Average people blame themselves. The wise see all blame as foolishness” Epictectus

1 tweet/storm to keep you up to date

In this discussion, Bryce Blum, a prominent attorney specializing in esports and its business aspects, delves into the world of esports business, specifically focusing on pro teams. Commonly, comparisons between traditional sports teams and esports counterparts are drawn in an effort to understand and potentially emulate their business models. Bryce dedicates considerable time to distilling insights concerning the distinctions between these two and how one might capitalize on those similarities and differences.

I highly recommend reading the entire thread since this topic is not often explored from an insider's perspective, and it's crucial to recognize that replicating existing business models isn't a straightforward endeavor due to the inherent disparities in beasts involved, stakeholders, and audience dynamics.

Having been involved in esports since 2003 (with Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne standing as the all-time greatest game, in my opinion) I've also overseen competitions for Ubisoft's Rainbow 6, and was then head of EMEA region for all esports activities; my experience has given me numerous, and potentially different, insights into the business side of things. I believe the recent years have been detrimental to esports growth, with many investors getting burned and refusing to come back now that the bubble has burst, and numbers aren’t “up only/yolo” anymore (revenues, engagement, viewers etc).

1 article/video to discover something new, maybe

In one of my previous newsletters, I mentioned my excitement for Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Recently, the Xbox team published a detailed (shill) blog post, delving into the game's gameplay mechanics, its historical authenticity and accuracy, and the significance of game localization.

Regions like MENA, Brazil, LATAM, South Korea, Japan, and CIS are major hubs for various forms of gaming. These regions often necessitate localization, especially for story-driven games. For years, the gaming industry focused on "EFIGS" (English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish). However, over the past decade, we've seen the inclusion of additional languages, such as Russian and Turkish, on a more consistent basis. While many publishers emphasize the need for localization, Ubisoft has undeniably been a pioneer in this area, and it's commendable - I know people like to trashtalk Ubi…

I highly recommend taking some time to read their blog post, as it explains the gameplay novelties, the game setting, and gives info on the cast!