12 Esports games I expect to succeed in the future!

12. Artifact

Artifact is the upcoming competitive card game from Valve. Hearthstone has proved that you can take the formula that magic the gathering created, digitise it, make it free to play and unleash it on the masses. Artifact seems to be going for something between Hearthstone and Magic the gathering. More complex than Hearthstone with less depth than Magic. Valve currently own 2 of the top 5 esports titles in CS:GO and Dota2. Valve have a solid track record and will now doubt make all the right steps to secure Artifacts future.

11. Battalion 1944

Battalion 1944 is Square Enix’s first foray into esports by funding British indie studio Bulkhead. B44 is a return to old school FPS titles, drawing heavy influence from Call of Duty 2. The game is a fast paced 5v5 competitive shooter with gameplay similar to CSGO. Having been out for a few months issues have already begun to surface for B44. Dwindling player bases have put a time limit on the games competitive scene and things will have to be turned around if they hope to make B44’s competitive scene work.

10. Battletech

Battletech is a strategy mech title that requires players to outhink their opponent in large scale battles. While a game like this has never had a big Esports following, I do feel there is place for it in the industry.

9. Call of Duty Black Ops 4 Battle Royale

Call of Duty Black Ops 4 Battle Royale. While Call of Duty has had an esports scene for the past decade, things have stagnated and the developers know it. This COD is looking to mix things up and make changes. The Introduction of a Battle Royale mode (something I expect everyone to start doing) could be a game changer for COD and see numbers reinvigorated.

8 – Diabotical

Diabotical was a game I backed on Kickstarter almost 2 years ago. It’s been in development for a long time and was at one point dubbed the saviour of the Arena FPS scene. However since its announcement we have seen Unreal Tournament release and fail, we’ve seen Quake Legends release and fail and Diabotical is still in development. I am keeping the game in this list as I feel it does have potential and would really like it to succeed. However there are so many question marks that it’s impossible to call how this game will do.

7. Dragon Ball Fighterz

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Dragon Ball Fighterz is the first Dragon Ball game that I felt could really work as a competitive fighter. Previous iterations while fun have been too over the top and ridiculous. Dragon Ball Fighterz balances the Dragon Ball aesthetic with competitive fighting elements in a strong manner. The game hasn’t yet grown competitively but I feel post Evo the game could really come into its own.

Paladins Realm Royale

Paladins Realm Royale is the latest attempt at finding an audience for Paladins. I feel sorry for this game in some ways as the base Paladins game is a strong one, sadly it just released alongside the almost identical Overwatch. Paladins has struggled to find an audience but I feel the new Battle Royale game mode will bring new players through the door and introduce them to the base competitive game as well.

5. Gwent

Gwent is developer CD Project Red’s first foray into competitive gaming. They’ve gone the safe route and opted for a competitive card game, building on their Witcher series minigame. The game seems to be somewhere between Artifact and Magic the Gathering, with a great deal of complexity and a steep learning curve. Is there room for 4 digital competitive card games? I’m not sure and if any of them are to fall by the wayside, I think Gwent will be the first to go.

4. PUBG

PUBG is a gaming phenomenon unlike anything we’ve seen in quite some time. PUBG hit the ground running on release and sold upward of 25 million copies. The esports scene got off to a solid start in 2017 and with a $2,000,000 tournament just round the corner, I am expecting big things from the future of PUBG, even though the games popularity is starting to taper off.

3. Icons

Icons is an indie title looking to step on the toes of Super Smash Bro’s. SSB is a franchise that has been a mainstay in the fighting game community for many years and I feel there’s room for a competitor if the game uses a similar set of skills and would allow for players to play both SSB & Icons, considering many fighting games players master a number of different titles. We’ve not seen a successful indie fighting game in a while, so i’ll be excited to see if Icons can stand the test of time.

2. NBA 2K18

NBA 2K18 is probably the least likely game I’d have thought to add to this list. Sports games (outside of Fifa) have never done well in esports. However the NBA seems to be putting it’s money behind the official NBA 2K18 league and trying to get NBA esports off the ground. With investment from NBA teams, the league has enough capital to make a big splash, however whether it can find an audience is another question entirely.

1. Fortnite

Fortnite has a 2018-2019 prize pool of $100,000,000. Enough said. Fortnite will do very well as an esport, even if the game doesn’t spectate all too well right now. It has the players, it has the money and it has the mainstream interest. I’m expecting HUGE things from Fortnite in the near future.

The Euthanasia Coaster

Julijonas Urbonas, a PhD candidate at the Royal College of Art in London aimed to design a method for euthanasia that would take lives with elegance and euphoria. Urbonas was inspired by a man named John Allen who stated that the ultimate Roller Coaster is one that sends out 24 people and they all come back dead.

So this is what Urbonas tried to create. He created a model of the coaster which would start by taking passangers up a steep raise to the 510 meter or 1,670 feet top. This would take two minutes which Urbonas felt was time for the passengers to have one final thought on if this was really something that they wished to proceed with. Upon reaching the top the coaster would stop and allow anyone that wished to exit the chance to do so. The coaster would then proceed down a 500 meter or 1,600 foot drop reaching speeds of 360 kph or 220 mph. The track would then flatten out before the 24 passengers were sent through 7 loops, with each consecutive loop getting smaller and smaller. By going through smaller loops the train would not lose it’s velocity and maintain a constant 10g to passengers, a lethal amount. With one final turn the train would return to the station so that the 24 corpses could be removed and replaced with 24 more passengers.

So how does the coaster kill? The Euthanasia Coaster kills through cerebral hypoxia or insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain. Riders would suffer through a gray out followed by tunnel vision. Eventually passengers would suffer a black out and ultimately g-LOC which is a g-force induced loss of consciousness. The entire ride would take 3 minutes and 20 seconds to complete a circuit.

The Euthanasia coaster was never built and probably will never be built. However it serves as an interesting look at the science of the human body and an impressive potential method for euthanasia.

5 Reasons Fortnite will make it as an Esports title!

If you don’t know what Fortnite is then you must having been living under a rock for the past year. Fortnite is a battle royale game developed by Epic games of Unreal Tournament and Gears of War fame. Fortnite has come under flack from PUBG fans due to being a copy of the game, however due to Fortnites monumental growth in popularity the haters have all but disappeared. I’ve put together a list of 5 reasons why I think Fortnite will stand the test of time and make it as an Esports title.

5

Right now Fortnite has an average of 3.5 million players per month, 2 million more than PUBG. Fortnite currently has the playerbase engaged and if they make their jump into Esports quickly they can convert some of those players into the hardcore competitive players that an Esports scene requires. They must act quick though before the casual players move onto the next fad.

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One of the things I hear frequently regarding Fortnite are that the graphics are cartoony and more appropriate for younger ages. Twitch streamer Ninja has recently removed curse words from his broadcasts after feedback from parents about his stream with their children. When you have the young crowds, you have the viewership numbers in the bag.

3

PUBG was a revelation to the gaming landscape. Selling unholy amounts of copies and dominating the Twitch viewership figures. However those numbers stagnated and are now dropping. Players are unhappy with the current state of PUBG, the lack of tangible updates and many have flocked to Fortnite. PUBG will certainly have a scene as a 2 million dollar tournament is already on the way this summer but Fortnite looks to be doing it bigger and perhaps better.

2

Games like CSGO and PUBG are popular enough but very risque to put onto television. Games like League and Dota2 are popular enough but too complex to put onto television. Fortnite has the unique balance of being popular enough and easy enough to understand that television stations will want it but at the same time the violence is cartoony and downplayed. I can see a Fortnite league being live on a major US network by the end of 2019.

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100 million dollars! Epic Games have pledged 100 million dollars in prize pools for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Should all else fail, the money is sure to bring in plenty of money hungry gamers.