Boy have eSports grown in the last few years. Sure, there've always been FIFA, Smash Bros or COD tournaments, but I feel safe in saying they've never had the social impact of some of the recent popular eSports... like... you know the one...
And now, given some of the announcements we've seen recently, it looks like both Sony and Microsoft are trying to steal a piece of that crowd. They're no longer content with allowing these popular games to grow and grow (to up to 90 million active users) away from their platforms. Both companies have striven to either secure exclusivity, or at the very least not be left behind.
Some titles that would seem to be consistent with popular eSports material are:
- Overwatch - PC, Xbox One, PS4
- Smite - PC, Xbox One
- Gigantic - PC, Xbox One
- Battleborn - PC, Xbox One, PS4
- Paragon - PC, PS4
It really looks like they've both made an effort to accommodate MOBAs on their consoles. Where exclusivity is concerned Microsoft seems to have the advantage, though of course quality will likely trump quantity - and that is where I wanted to get to: Is it too late? LoL and DotA 2 are by far the biggest games in the genre, one much more so than the other even, and no matter how much Microsoft or Sony flood the market with similar games for their consoles, they may not be able to compete with the popularity of the already established giants.
I'm sure a lot of you will think "lolmobas", or couldn't care less about eSports, but this is System Wars. They've gotta do what's best for their system, and that includes appealing to the insanely huge amount of MOBA fans out there enjoying gaming noton the consoles, just the same as it includes making an entry into VR or offering BC. This is something I've barely seen discussed over here. I want to know what you think.
(Perhaps, and this is just me wondering, Sony could take advantage of that licensed kb/m peripheral they've got going to bring LoL to the PS4, rather than attempt their own new entries?)
tl;dr: PS4 is getting mobas, XB1 is betting mobas. Will it make them money?
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