Dota 2: How Valve is making five-a-side wizard death a healthy eSport

As one of the fastest growing industries, the world of eSports has taken the world by storm over the past two years. From games like Starcraft 2 to Riot’s League of Legends, the eSports industry have generated prize pools of nearly $3 million and brought together millions of viewers online. However, it was the most recent tournament that was held this past summer that really propelled the industry into the eyes of many potential sponsors. Valve held its annual tournament for Dota 2, The International, in Seattle and proved to be one of the most enormous milestones for eSports as a whole. With over 4.5 million viewers worldwide and a prize pool of over $2.8 million, this event alone showed just how quickly the industry is growing. Jason Cion’s blogpost also discusses the rising takeover of eSports with the sponsorship of many major companies. Building a solid foundation for all of eSports in general, “its model takes a triangular partnership between developer, professional player and community which is then able to support or tap into satellite companies and auxiliary businesses.” With companies like Nexon immediately hopping onto the fertile grounds left behind after The International by sponsoring a $200,000 tournament, the eSports industry can significantly expand the markets of many new sponsors to countless new consumers.

After the recent shutdown of the United States government, the US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker has warned that prolonging the federal shutdown will start having a greater effect on business not just in the United States, but around the world. Her comments came at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as leaders gathered to voice their own concerns about the situation. Just last Friday, one of the world’s largest defence contractors, Lockheed Martin, announced that it would put 3,000 workers on unpaid leave, with the number scheduled to rise if the shutdown continued.. Lockheed Martin employs over 123,000 people worldwide and over 70% of their revenues come from military sales. Lockheed Martin’s announcement came just days after United Technology, which makes Blackhawk helicopters, laid off 2,000 workers as production was halted because there were no government inspections on finished products. As one of the largest economies in the world, the shutdown of the United States government could have a drastic impact on the world economy. After the financial crisis of 2008, the world economy is still recovering from the hit and is not in a position to withstand a lengthy shutdown of one of the world’s largest and most influential economies.