A look at the developing Ghana esports landscape

WHAT IS ESPORTS?

Esports, short for “electronic sports,” are video games that are played in a highly organized competitive environment.

Esports often take the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams.

The most common video game genres associated with esports are Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), First-Person Shooter (FPS), Fighting, Card, Battle Royale and Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games.

Esports is quickly becoming one of the world’s largest entertainment industries. In 2021, Statista reported that the global esports market was valued at just over $1.08 billion, an almost 50% increase from the previous year.

Sports including the NFL, NBA, Formula One, FIFA, AFL, and EPL are also diversifying into esports as a means to ensure their brands remain relevant to future generations of consumers.

Esports is now increasingly being recognized as a sport, with an International Olympic sub-committee recently approving esports as a sport for the 2022 Asian Games.

PROFILE OF THE GHANAIAN TERTIARY ESPORTS CONSUMER

A survey carried out by Esports Africa News (EAN) – a platform to grow esports content and promote esports and associated activities on the African continent – on tertiary students about their knowledge and participation in esports revealed the following.

With a sample size of 100 randomly selected tertiary students, 92% of the respondents had an idea about esports or gaming. The other 8% of the respondents were in the dark regarding esports or gaming.

63 of the 92 respondents who affirmed their knowledge about esports or gaming were males while 26 out of the 92 respondents who affirmed knowledge of esports and gaming were females.

When asked how they got to know about esports or gaming, 68.87% indicated they got introduced to esports and gaming through social media while 29.35% got introduced through their peers and friends.

94% of the respondents on Instagram alluded to a career as an esports athlete as something they would consider while 6% had no interest in being an esports athlete.

Respondents on Twitter when asked if they would consider a career in esports saw 83% respond in the affirmative whiles 17% responded in the negative.

Having a personal gaming console is essential in esports or gaming but not everyone can afford one. 63.04% of the respondent did not own their own personal gaming console while 36.96% of respondents owned a personal gaming console.

With reference to the amount of time spent on esports or gaming, the survey revealed that 56.52% of respondents spent between one to three hours playing games or esports, 14.13% spent between four to 6 hours playing, 8.7% of respondents played for about seven to nine hours while 20.65% of respondents played esports once a while.

When asked if any of the respondents would love to play esports competitively, 68.48% of the respondents responded in the affirmative while 31.52% responded in the negative.

There is definitely a growing interest in esports or gaming from the average Ghanaian and it is likely to see rapid growth as an industry in the coming years.

For all you esports enthusiasts and gaming lovers, you can follow the organizations below for up to date esports information and more.

1. Esports Africa News – Media dedicated to the promotion of esports and associated business
   https://esportsafricanews.com
2. Playtourney – An esports tournament management website for African esports tournaments https://playtourney.live
3. Tema Esports Club – One of the leading esports clubs in Ghana. One of their athletes represented Ghana back in March at a Gamr event.
4. Team Falcon – Another leading esports team whose athletes have won many local tournaments in Ghana. They are currently contending in the GFA eTrophy Championship to represent Ghana at the 2022 FIFAe Nations Cup to be held in Denmark.

by Lanyoh Selorm