As the number of associations, groups, and organizations focused on the eSports industry grows by the day, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep track. While each organization differs from the next. From the World Esports Association’s (WESA) in May to the Esports Integrity Coalition launch last week, it’s clear that instilling structure into the fluid, decentralized world of competitive video games is a hot-button topic.
One such organized body, jumping into the eSports fray, is BIU – a prominent German interest group for digital entertainment. BIU’s new eSports initiative – eSports.BIU – involves partnership with representatives from Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, ESL, and more. To clarify the new group’s focus and objectives, Martin Puppe from BIU was kind enough to engage in a Q&A session.
What is a brief background for BIU?
BIU – Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware (German Games Industry Association) is the association of the German computer and video games industry. Its 26 members are developers, publishers and providers of digital games, and they represent over 85 per cent of the German market. The BIU is, for example, the sponsor of gamescom. As an expert partner for media and for political and social institutions, the BIU answers all questions on the topic of digital games.
With BIU.Dev and BIU.Net the association also provides a national network platform to connect all members of the German computer and video games industry, to promote an active exchange and to combine and coordinate the commitment of all market players in order to strengthen Germany as a games site. The interplay between the network platform and BIU creates synergies that have never existed before.
Who can join eSports.BIU?
eSports.BIU is an association through which BIU – Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware (German Games Industry Association) is responding to its members’ demands for more eSports activities – an area of great future significance. Members of the BIU.Dev and BIU.Net network platform and BIU members who play a significant role in the production of eSports – as developers of eSports titles or as organisers of eSports events, for instance – can join eSports.BIU. There are plans for regular round-table discussions for other actors involved in the eSports ecosystem and for eSports clans and teams that are not members of eSports.BIU.
What are the main differences between eSports.BIU and the World Esports Association (WESA)?
The members of eSports.BIU have a mission: to work towards establishing eSports more firmly as a sector in Germany. The idea is to work together to achieve recognition of eSports as an official sport and simplified visas for eSports athletes. One of the aims of WESA (World Esports Association) is to bring greater structure to eSports internationally, for instance through predictable schedules for fans, players, organisers and broadcasters, through general league guidelines and rules on profit sharing. This means that WESA’s work has a greater focus on the concrete aspects of how eSports leagues and events are run, whereas eSports.BIU also looks at the conditions in Germany.
Does the BIU plan to become active beyond Germany as well?
The BIU – Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware is the association of the German computer and video games industry. Its main aim is to make Germany a top global location for the development and production of games. In the area of eSports too, the BIU’s priority is to shape eSports in Germany and to improve conditions – in a similar way to the national improvements being implemented in France or the UK.
What are the biggest challenges to obtaining official recognition of eSports?
Whether eSports will be recognised as an official sport in Germany is the subject of much discussion. While countries like the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Bulgaria and the UK already have eSports associations, and electronic sports recently won official recognition in Russia, there is still resistance to the idea in Germany, for example from the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) in Frankfurt. Yet eSports already meet many of the DOSB’s criteria for official sports.
The physical and mental demands of competitive games like Dota and Counter-Strike are similar to the demands of other sports disciplines. And ethical values like fair play and equal opportunities are also fundamental to eSports.
In addition, the organisational structures in eSports are similar to those found in classic sports. For instance, not only do electronic tournaments differentiate between professionals and amateurs, but the teams and clans play in different leagues, are organised into associations and sponsored by businesses. As with official sports, the competitions are about winning titles and prize money. Ultimately, the continual professionalisation of eSports, the tournaments that attract tens of thousands of viewers and the huge media interest make eSports a sport that appeals to the public.