E-sports offers a pandemic respite

The pandemic has also provided an unforeseen opportunity for the traditional and e-sports worlds to come together.

Ben Jackson, Dell Technologies ANZ consumer and small business general manager. Picture: Chris Pavlich/The Photo Pitch

SPORTS fans around the world have found their spirits deflated lately, with COVID-19 postponing, cancelling or hugely scaling back everything from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to the Australian Grand Prix to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

The pandemic has also provided an unforeseen opportunity for the traditional and e-sports worlds to come together and compare notes, with some interesting results.

There’s more crossover between the two disciplines than one might expect, with Dell Technologies Australia and New Zealand’s consumer and small business general manager Ben Jackson saying the right equipment was critical for gamers and professional sportspeople alike.

“Whether you are stepping into a high performance car to take on Mount Panorama in the V8s, climbing on the most advanced road bike for the Tour de France or spawning into battle for an e-sports tournament, it is the hardware you use that can set you apart from the competition,” he said.

“Just like their traditional sports peers, professional gamers need cutting-edge innovation and power to perform at the highest level.

“Much like a Formula One driver needs the latest innovations in speed, aerodynamics and handling to compete on tracks around the world e-sports athletes need top-of-the-line compute power, higher frame rates and super responsive peripherals to enable them to compete at a world-class level in tournaments.

“Similar to the dedicated pit crews who keep the engines running, and runners in AFL and rugby that keep players hydrated during games, we see ourselves and our tech solutions as helping to keep e-sports athletes not only in the game, but well ahead of the pack.”

Order Esports head of operations and manager for the organisation’s CounterStrike: Global Offensive team Naithan Briffa said at the highest levels of competitive e-sports, players needed to have the very best available gaming hardware – everything from processors and monitors to keyboards, mice and headsets.

Naithan Briffa, Order Esports head of operations and manager for its CounterStrike: Global Offensive team.

"Top of the line gaming hardware provides extremely valuable advantages to e-sports professionals,” he said.

“At the highest levels of play every millisecond saved in inputs and delays can be the difference between winning and losing rounds which turns into winning and losing tournaments, so having access to the best hardware and peripherals is very important if you're looking to be the best.”

E-sports are fortunate that they can continue (mostly) despite social distancing and self-isolation requirements – most fans are watching via the internet, although major events like the Overwatch World Cup and Rainbow Six:Siege Six Invitational attract large in-person event audiences too.

“The last few months have seen almost every code of sport face unprecedented challenges. While in some regions (traditional sports) players have competed in empty stadiums and kept away from their fans, we’re fortunate that e-sports has been able to play direct to its community in the digital environment it calls home,” Mr Jackson said.

“It is this dedicated online audience, and the ability e-sports has to engage fans directly and at home, that has meant that traditional sporting stalwarts like V8 super cars, F1 racing and even most recently the AFL, have adapted their traditional game for online.”

Some traditional sports, particularly motor racing, have even transitioned to running virtual events using state of the art vehicle simulators and software as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Formula One series, for example, replaced pandemic cancelled races with virtual events run using the game F1 2019. While the races did not count for championship points, they proved popular with fans and provided a glimpse of future possibilities for e-sports as well – something Dell are keen to capitalise on.

“Both traditional and e-sports have learnt a lot from each other over the years, and no matter the direction things take over the coming months, this looks set to continue,” Mr Jackson said.

“As a tech creator and supporter of e-sports, we know that facing challenges and delivering solutions that can meet and exceed the demands of our athletes is vital to the future of the competition.”