Peculiar Interconnections Between eSports and Microtransactions

For players, computer games are a source of fun and entertainment. Developers see their products differently. Even though they strive to make their games enjoyable, it’s mainly for profit. Today’s article will explore how developers use microtransactions in the mix with eSports to get more revenue from their games.

What are Microtransactions and eSports?

Before you dive into the interconnections between these two, you must first get their definitions right. So, what are microtransactions? Those are any in-game items that you can purchase for real money.

Such purchasable items may or may not impact your in-game capabilities. However, this article is about eSports, and games from this category don’t feature items that can strengthen your character. Therefore, this page talks about cosmetic microtransactions.

Now, to eSports. As a reader of this blog, you should already know what it is. But for those who are new to this site, here’s a little clarification: eSports is simply a form of competition using video games.

ESports as a Tool to Advertise Skins

What do you think modern eSports competitions are? For many, eSports are battles between the best players of the world that showcase players’ skills. And indeed, that’s what they do primarily.

However, if you take a closer look at the tournaments, you’ll see that each player is packed with various skins. Many casual players strive to be like world-class competitors. They inherit their playstyle, attitude, and items, too.

For example, you see a huge player like “Simple” (one of the best CS players) using AWP Asiimov during his sniper rounds. If you like “Simple,” you’d want to have items like he does. It pushes you to spend your hard-earned money to get a chance to roll a desired item out of the case or anywhere else.

Interestingly, this affects not only game developers like Valve. Some third-party sites offer better conditions for opening CS2 cases, and players are increasingly using alternative platforms — including those that support CS2 skinchanger for visual weapon customization.

Esports Related Items and Features

Some in-game items are closely related to eSports. The best example of this mechanic is sticker capsules in CS2. These capsules may contain digital images that resemble your favorite teams and players. Of course, if you want to associate yourself with a specific eSports figure and you have some spare cash, you’ll spend it to satisfy your desires.

Capsules have important traits you must consider: a drop rarity. Such boxes consist mainly of common items that you receive in 99% of your rolls. Players want to stand out among the others, which causes them to open more cases in order to receive rare items.

Another good example of microtransactions related to eSports is Compendium in Dota 2. It’s a virtual book that rewards you with items for completing specific tasks. A part of these tasks centers around eSports competitions. They ask you to predict:

Match MVP
The winner of the tournament
A player is to score the biggest number of kills within a specific match, etc.

Thus, the developer tricks you into watching eSports competitions by offering you lucrative bonuses.

Compendium increases the number of eSports match viewers and hypes up the main event. Each purchased book contributes to The International prize pool, which has allowed Valve to reach a stunning reward of $40,018,400 for the 2021 tournament.

Event Tickets

A long time ago, games like Dota 2 featured tournaments that you could watch only after buying tickets in an in-game shop. Indeed, this mechanic is quite dated. Currently, all eSports competitions are streamed on Twitch or YouTube.

Conclusion

Esports and microtransactions are separate mechanics. However, as you can see from an analysis on this page, game developers use both elements in synergy to attract more viewers to competitions and gain extra cash.