Computer games and cybersports have already proven to be a serious business. Besides just selling game licenses, every popular game creates a unique ecosystem and community, which can be monetized.

When a new game appears to have some cybersports potential, it opens a few opportunities related to the game. These opportunities mean free market niches. Usually, there is great demand for new prominent leaders in the segments and enough differences from other existing game ecosystems which together make the niche open for new entrants.

So I decided to take a closer a look at how one of the recent additions to the cybersports scene PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) influenced the landscape and which opportunities it created.

1. Professional sports

According to GosuGamers, there have already been 5 tournaments with noticeable prize pools from 50k to 200k USD. Total prize pool amounted to 500k USD.

The rise of professional tournaments started in November 2017 just at the same time when PUBG was officially released and approximately half-year after the start of early access.

2. Professional commenting

I decided to distinguish this one from the tournaments.

First, there are commentator teams hired for official broadcasts by tournament organizers or broadcasters.

Second, depending on game popularity in specific regions there are opportunities for non-English commentators to host localized broadcasts and thus build their own audience.

It may be estimated that a game needs at least established 3-5 commentators per language.

3. On-line streaming

As of June 2018, there are ~60k average cumulative viewers on PUBG twitch streams.

Youtube audience may also be added to this number.

4. Highlights and Best moments

Compiling stream highlights with best of funny moments seems like a reasonable way to make fortune if you are interested in a game.

If we take a look at popular PUBG highlights-dedicated youtube channels the numbers are following:

These numbers are not so insane if you compare them to say like Fortnite (Daily Fortnite Battle Royale Moments with 2M subscribers). I think the reason is that there are a lot of PUBG highlights from prominent players, who capture main viewership base.

5. ELO boosting

Google returns at least 10 websites which offer boosting services in PUBG.

It is hard to estimate the market size, yet demand for such services definitely exist.

6. Bets and gambling

Just as with CS:GO PUBG skin gambling websites offer players to gamble by using their PUBG skins as tokens.

This segment is not so easy to pull off, as you need a full development team and strong marketing.

7. Fan communities

There is great opportunity to establish and grow a community in lost of social services. Some of them might allow some kind of direct monetization, some may not. Yet having powers to influence major communities may well synergize with other items on this list.

Some examples:

• Reddit (even multiple subreddits)
• Discord
• Wikia
• Facebook
• Telegram/Whatsapp
• etc

8. Utility services

Making some simple app or website or tutorial with worth utility may well attract constant traffic which may be monetized. Some examples for PUBG include:

• Website to analyze parachute options depending on the plane path
• Interactive maps
• Utility to calculate the number of shots to kill an enemy depending on gear
• Patch analysis
• etc

Conclusion

As you see, when a new game becomes popular there is great demand for supporting services. These opportunities not only may bring you joy by leveraging your passion for a game but also may be of substantial business value. This have been true of Hearthstone, PUBG, Fortnite and others.

So what do you think? If you have anything to add, please share your ideas in comments.