2017 to be the watershed year for e-sports, or the competitive playing of video games at a professional level
Juniper Research has drawn up a list of predictions for the coming year, all neatly wrapped up as the top trends for the technologies industries for 2017.
The company has identified 2017 as the watershed year for e-sports, or the competitive playing of video games at a professional level, forecasting that there will be over 190 million unique viewers next year across mobile and online channels.
The company argues that whilst to date revenues have largely been derived from subscriptions to online video platforms such as Twitch, e-sports’ loyal and rapidly expanding audience makes it an increasingly attractive proposition for advertisers.
With viewing figures beginning to rival those of traditional sporting events – the League of Legends Championship attracted a peak audience of 14 million in December 2015 – Juniper anticipates ad spend on the sector rising sharply next year.
The research also claims the implementation of PSD2 (Directive on Payment Services 2) legislation will be a key disruptor in banking by reducing the barrier of entry to new digital players. It predicts a host of third party players – including retailers, telcos and vendors – will seek to deepen their existing relationships with consumers through the addition of an array of financial products.
The top 10 predictions are:
1 E-sports hits the mainstream
2 Advent of PSD2 heralds banking disruption
3 Mass expansion of VR content creation
4 Blockchain deployments extend beyond financial industry
5 Challenger banks mergers and acquisitions
6 Insurtech disrupts traditional insurance industry
7 Battle of the voice assistants
8 Autonomous driving legislation commences
9 Consoles reinvent themselves
10 Bots are hot!
