29/05/2020
NEWS STORY
Without Formula One, virtual racing has been taking over the screens of race fans.
Significantly boosted by the participation of professional racers like Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, the virtual form of the sport has proven to be entertaining, captivating, and competitive. It's caught on well with race fans, with the hope now being that some of those newly initiated virtual racing fans will explore the world of esports and all of the options that it has available for fans.
Virtual F1 has been a success
Set-up by Formula One, the F1 Esports Virtual GP races have been very enjoyable. They've also proven to be a popular attraction, with the inaugural virtual GP drawing in 3.2 million online viewers with a 396,000 concurrent streams peak. Not only have they enabled regular race fans to enjoy action-packed events, but it has also brought the skill and ability required to compete at the highest level of esports to the fore.
Having professionals involved naturally helped to bolster its appeal, but the fact that the pros (Verstappen and Norris) came sixth and 11th in the Melbourne weekend strengthened the validity of esports as a competitive sport. As such, the drive to deliver even more entertainment to Formula One fans has a genuine chance of opening the door to more potential spectators in esports, having showcased the exciting nature of competitive gaming.
Virtual racing as a segue into esports
There is already an established racing game in the esports scene, with the F1 Esports Series totalling 5.8 million in online viewership across the 12-round tournament last year. However, as you can see from the viewership, the virtual edition drew in a slew of new spectators who perhaps hadn't watched the F1 Esports Series before. As many traditional sports fans haven't even heard of esports - let alone the F1 Esports Series - the virtual races will be tremendous for esports exposure.
Some of those that have heard of the increasingly-popular, billion-dollar industry may have had some different ideas about esports. Of course, there is the stigma that it isn't a ‘real' form of sport as it doesn't align with the physical nature of traditional sports. However, in experiencing the virtual races play out, spectators can see that all of the fundamentals are there: competition, entertainment, skill, and human-error. So, some may be more open to exploring what the whole scene of esports has to offer now.
The esports experience for fans
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The success of the virtual racing events has only helped to add validity to the esports scene as a spectator sport, but there's much more to it than seeing traditional sports played out through consoles and computers. Like how motor racing has many different parts - such as Formula One, Formula E, Moto GP, etc. - esports is comprised of several popular titles with their own tournaments, including games like Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Fortnite alongside the virtual sports variants.
For the fans, the esports scene boasts just about every facet of traditional sports, including teams to follow, live matches, major tournaments, likeable personalities, merchandising, and even betting. The matches are wholly decided by the skill of the players, which is why esports odds have become available across the board, from Dota 2 to Rocket League. The live matches themselves are readily available online, primarily via the popular platform Twitch, so anyone who wants to try out a new esport can easily do so - often for free.
The sheer accessibility of esports is the primary reason why it has been able to grow so quickly, with its inherent entertainment value maintaining the audience as more join the fold. Those who follow even just one line of esports are treated to waves of social media content and live events.
Given the success of the virtual racing and the rate of growth that esports continues to experience, it stands to reason that the F1's virtual races will have introduced a whole new set of fans to the exciting new competitions.
Picture Credit 2 & 3: Pixabay