Roblox’s integration into NFTs and the metaverse paints a bright future for esports. (Image from Roblox Newsroom)
Esports is constantly expanding. The industry is relatively young compared to the likes of basketball, football, and baseball, so it has had to evolve rapidly to make up for lost ground.
Larger venues, live streaming support, and now virtual reality have all been ways the industry has kept up with other competing sports. In 2018, esports tournament organizer ESL, in collaboration with Sliver VR Technologies, announced the first esports event live streamed in virtual reality. Viewers got the chance to experience the games as if they were actually in the venue.
But what if esports games were played in virtual reality?
On November 8, 2021, Esports Insider reported that video game studio Dubit raised 8 million USD to kickstart the first esports league hosted in the metaverse. The funds will also go towards the creation of the Metaverse Gaming League, which will host Roblox events before expanding to more games in the future.
This is a great step towards expanding the esports industry towards a more bold and adventurous future. The gaming market has been focusing more and more on the metaverse and how to bring esports into this social gaming medium.
With an increased interest in the metaverse also comes a bigger push for NFTs in video games.
The Roblox Company has already made several moves to bring NFTs and blockchain technology into its incredibly popular video game, so Roblox being showcased in the MGL could further integrate the metaverse and NFTs into gaming.
Combined with the growing usage of the blockchain and NFTs in video games, the esports and gaming markets have a very intriguing path forward. The past year has shown that blockchain technology is growing fast, and while no major esports organization is completely jumping on the metaverse train, the future is in sight.
Massive in-person events can be held over virtual reality, ditching crowded arenas. After the COVID-19 pandemic has taken so many of those opportunities away, these innovations could not have come at a more important time.
GosuRabbit is a marketing agency that specialises in providing entertainment, esports and gaming marketing services for brands, businesses and agencies across the globe.
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