The era of gaming and eSports in Russia — how it all began
One of the first stones in the foundation of culture
Despite all its shortcomings, computersthe clubs of those times created a real boom among young people. In Russia, their popularity can be explained by a number of factors. For example, the climate: in the cold winter, many people prefer to go into the virtual world than spend time outside. Or the inaccessibility of hardware to a wide audience: not every family could afford home computers. One way or another, computer clubs laid the foundation for competitive gaming, or eSports.
First non-professional esports teamsappeared shortly after the opening of the clubs - around the mid-90s. People organized yard, district and city competitions, and the reward for victory could be symbolic prizes or small amounts of money. In 1999, the first relatively large StarCraft tournament was held at the Moscow Palace of Youth. For the first place, the winning team received a system unit worth $700.
In zero people began to make money on gaming.My personal example: in the 10th grade, my friends and I decided to create a server for playing Lineage: we assembled a computer, got an IP address. I was earning $100 a day from selling access to the game, until another business with more experienced "entrepreneurs" began to bring down our servers. And there are many such stories.
Considering the size of the eSports industry today, these earnings numbers sound funny. In addition to computer clubs and game publishers (whose importance has grown greatly over the years), the following appeared on the market:
- tournament operators that hold competitions for a multi-million audience;
- eSports teams that bring together players from different disciplines to participate in tournaments;
- broadcast studios that acquire the rights to commentate tournaments and launch their own shows;
- esports media covering all industry events;
- streaming platforms that broadcast tournaments;
- and esports federations - public organizations involved in the development of the industry in different countries.
In 2016, esports in Russia was recognizedofficial sport. On average, about 10% of Russians today actively follow the industry, and prize funds in tournaments reach tens of millions of dollars (for example, Team Spirit earned $18.2 million at the largest Dota 2 The International tournament). Our players confidently perform on the global eSports scene. A recent example is the European RMR tournaments for the CS:GO Major, where most of the athletes were from Russia. And this result took less than 30 years.
Gaming in Russia today
During the same time, the "brotherly" industries of gaming andesports have split from each other and grown into two major markets. If computer sports has completely focused on the training and achievements of professional players, then gaming remains entertainment for a wide audience.
According to studies, about 70% of the populationRussia at least occasionally plays on different devices. Most often it is a mobile phone (85%) or a computer (63%). Demographically, the audience is also expanding: people of all ages play, the proportion of female gamers has increased.
Although in 2022 the video game industry in Russiafaced with many restrictions - for example, such popular platforms for buying applications as Steam and the PlayStation Store stopped accepting payments from Russian accounts - Russians remain one of the most active globally. A good example is the February novelty of Hogwarts Legacy, which in our country can officially be bought only in the format of a physical copy. This did not stop those who wish to find ways to play the game: Russia ranked fourth in the list of markets with the most active players in the first month of release.
This interest in video games, which is alsocontributed to the popularization of e-sports, gave a new life to computer clubs. In recent years, the market has expanded rapidly and even showed a growth of 15% in 2022. According to experts, there are now more than 2,300 organizations operating in Russia (compared to 200+ establishments in 2018). In general, the industry of computer clubs in Russia is very dynamic. The CIS region, according to our analysis, ranks second in the world after Asia (more than 14,000 clubs are open in China alone, and there are about 30,000 of them in the world).
Problems of the gaming industry and computer clubs in 2023
Although overall market figures show stablegrowth and people continue to be interested in video games, the Russian industry faced several challenges in 2022 due to global restrictions. Spoiler: they are all solvable.
The first difficulty associated with the operation of cyberarenasand computer clubs after the introduction of restrictions, there was a lack of specialized software. A solution was found quickly: by the summer of 2022, more than 500 Russian clubs, including us, switched to software from a domestic developer, which is as functional as foreign products.
Another serious question that wefaced, is the purchase of gaming equipment. Major manufacturers - ASUS, NVIDIA, ACER and many others - have suspended their business processes in Russia. Accordingly, clubs can no longer work directly with the official distributor and receive warranty service from manufacturing companies. So far, problems associated with post-warranty service are largely regulated by Russian legislation on the return of goods. We are watching how the situation develops: perhaps new channels will soon appear that will close this issue.
If earlier deliveries were debugged and occurredcentrally, the market and its movement were understandable to all industry participants, but now the owners of computer clubs are re-creating algorithms for working in new realities. Market value is more difficult to regulate and does not obey any generally accepted laws. For example, if one supplier purchased video cards at a time when the dollar was worth 60 rubles, he can sell them 20-30% cheaper than another who bought them at the new rate. How we solve this is to constantly and carefully look for the most favorable conditions, communicate with the regions, analyze marketplaces and retail chains.
Gamers also feel the limitations.According to VTsIOM, 51% of video game fans have encountered problems. More difficulties were experienced by those playing on computers (58%) and consoles (85%). This may be one of the reasons why today's gaming audience so often turns to the services of computer clubs.
Fortunately, the whole situation is stillcan not be called a serious crisis and deficit. The market is gradually adapting to new conditions, and the owners of computer clubs or other gaming businesses have the opportunity to overcome restrictions and provide users with the right equipment.
How can entrepreneurs enter the computer club market?
According to Yandex.Wordstat, user interest in computer clubs remains consistently high in any season and only increases over the years. Even with the difficulties in importing equipment, entering the gaming market can be a great solution for entrepreneurs: demand for the product is growing. When deciding to launch a project, people are faced with the question: how best to enter the business? There are several options:
- opening your own club from scratch;
- buyout of an existing club;
- purchasing a franchise.
Which of these options will work best for you?
Opening a club from scratch.This option is good for people who havealready had a similar or similar experience in starting a business. Obviously, without knowing anything about the industry and without having partners nearby who are well versed in the market, an entrepreneur will face a lot of difficulties and mistakes, many of which could have been avoided. However, if you are truly passionate about your business, you have a unique idea that other market players cannot offer, and you are ready (both morally and financially) to “break the woods” on the way to your goal, this option for you. This was the case in our case: after opening the Borodach barbershop chain, my partners and I discovered that each of us has been interested in gaming since childhood. Having studied market trends, we realized that if we proceed from the plane of our own interests and add to this our experience in doing business, we will get a good product. But we still recommend that beginners think about it - perhaps for the first time it’s worth joining an existing structure in order to understand how everything works in practice.
Buying out a ready-made club.On the one hand, outbidding the already existingbusiness, the entrepreneur immediately solves the problems associated with the launch of the club: the purchase of furniture, equipment, recruitment and building processes from the very beginning. On the other hand, when selling a business, some owners may artificially inflate prices, hide certain details and embellish the big picture. Therefore, when buying a club, one of the main steps is a thorough check of the business. Try to immerse yourself in the case as much as possible and ask all kinds of questions to the owner - in this case it is better to be too careful than to miss some detail. Learn more about the condition of the premises and equipment, existing agreements with partners and contractors, personnel, finances and principles of the club. After closing the deal, prepare for the fact that you will need to integrate into processes and make decisions quickly - for a person without experience, this can be difficult.
Buying a franchise.If the entrepreneur has little experience inin the gaming industry and in building a business, or he wants to simply and safely open his point of sale and receive regular income from it, acquiring a franchise will be an ideal solution. Today, this is perhaps the most understandable and stable option for entering the gaming business. By joining a franchise, you gain access to the expertise of an existing successful network and can save money on branding or marketing campaigns by having the franchise's established reputation work for you. Even if in the course of work you have a new idea that requires you to open your own business, it will be easier to do this with a background in the form of franchise management experience.
The future of computer clubs - where is the market going?
The gaming audience is rapidly expanding.New demands and wishes for entertainment appear in it, so today computer clubs are being adapted for different categories of people. If we compare modern establishments with clubs operating 20 years ago, the difference will be enormous.
For young gamers and people who dreamto connect their lives with e-sports, clubs open their own educational programs and conduct training in popular e-sports disciplines - CS:GO (which will soon be replaced by CS2), Dota 2, Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege and others. Such activities not only help you better navigate the virtual space - scientists believe that video games have a positive effect on reaction speed, multitasking and the ability to make quick decisions. Some clubs also regularly host tournaments for schoolchildren and students, show matches with popular teams, and meetings with e-sports stars.
For a more adult audience, which is nowcan be found in clubs much more often (for example, office workers who decided to play computer on Friday evening), clubs strive to improve their customer service. Some establishments have restaurants where you can have a delicious dinner before the ice rink with friends, somewhere they even offer hookahs to guests - although we are not sure that this is a good idea.
Interesting products are gradually appearing on the marketunusual offers, new formats and services to attract the attention of the audience. For example, we are now actively working on the development of robotic dogs that can act as waiters. This project is designed not only to create a “wow effect” for our guests, but also to provide jobs for people with disabilities: they will be able to control robots and serve visitors remotely. A team that we have gathered from all over the world is working on the launch of these robotic dogs, and about $100,000 has already been invested in the project. In the near future, we want to launch three of these robots in our clubs in Dubai. Let's look at the results and, hopefully, after some time we will also be able to bring this technology to Russia.
Gaming and the industry of computer clubs activelyare developing all over the world. The market has long moved away from the concept in which gamers were considered a separate subculture with a low level of solvency. Now entering the gaming business for entrepreneurs has become a reliable and safe solution that provides a huge number of opportunities for implementation. The one who can better understand their audience and offer them what they want will win.
Read more:
Researchers have linked the rate of aging and the feeling of hunger
Look at the strange book-shaped rock on the surface of Mars
Take a look at the first Midnight eVTOL prototype: it's ready to fly
Cover photo: Image by Freepik