London is not taking advantage of the massive economic potential of esports despite having a claim to being the “esports capital of Europe”, the Deputy Mayor for Business has said.
By Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter
London is not taking advantage of the massive economic potential of esports despite having a claim to being the “esports capital of Europe”, the Deputy Mayor for Business has said.
Whether it’s FC 25, Fortnite or Counter-Strike, online gaming has moved beyond the bedrooms of teenagers and onto a global stage with an army of fans, huge in-person events and even betting odds assigned to key players.
It’s a lucrative career for some and there’s money to be made in hosting these events – and City Hall is determined to “blaze a trail” when it comes to making the most of competitive gaming which is worth an estimated £1billion to the global economy every year.
Howard Dawber, Deputy Mayor for Business, spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) at Wembley Arena on Friday (September 5), where G2 were crowned as the BLAST Premier London Open champions after a weekend of gaming in front of approximately 15,000 fans across three days.
“We’ve got thousands of people here in the arena, hundreds of thousands watching online and millions tuning in to view the catch-up highlights – this is a seriously big sector now and something we can lay a really good claim to,” Mr Dawber said.
“Esports brings together two of the things that London is really, really good at in the creative sector and the tech sector.
“We are already the world capital for sport and esports is certainly in our growth plan – what other city in the world has produced an economic strategy with esports as one of the sectors that it wants to promote? This is a growing and very important area of both culture and entertainment.”
The event, which saw the world’s best Counter-Strike teams battling it out, is expected to have given a £30million boost to London’s economy.
Last year the capital held the League of Legends World Championship at the O2 arena.
Industry figures argue that it’s growing significantly – the BLAST contest at the weekend was estimated to reach more than 89million viewers across 100 countries in over 30 languages – and that governments would do well to take advantage of the interest.
Mr Dawber admitted that Asia still led the way when it comes to supporting esports – in 2023, YouGov research found that 80 per cent of regular gaming followers were from the continent – and said London and the UK has a “long way to go before we’re in those sorts of leagues”.
City Hall has already commissioned the Arena Consultancy firm to conduct a new piece of research to gain “a deeper understanding of what more London needs to do to become a global centre for esports”.
However, one prominent professional player warned that the level of investment outside of Asia hadn’t yet caught up to the grassroots interest.
Cai ‘CYPHER’ Watson, a professional Counter-Strike 2 player, told the LDRS: “Esports is definitely growing in London – you can tell.
“It’s now getting normalised – back in the day when I used to play, even five years ago, it was not normalised at all. It used to be looked down upon, but the new generation have realised it’s not anything to be ashamed of.
“There will be 6,000 people at the tournament, it’s insane and the arena is going to be so loud. But investment for UK and London esports isn’t as good as it could have been. We definitely need more, but hopefully it’s on the right track if we end up getting the Mayor’s help.
“So far there’s not been enough investment and support, but that’s a cultural thing – people look at esports and don’t think there’s enough money. But the statistics now show there is enough and we can certainly try.”
The LDRS also questioned Mr Dawber about how City Hall would balance its support for esports with concerns around children and young people spending too much time on screens.
“The key here is to make sure that we equip our young people particularly with the techniques they need and the understanding they need to realise when it’s getting a little bit too far,” he said.
“There’s thousands of people physically here as well as the thousands watching online – so there’s a real social thing here which brings like-minded people together so let’s look at the positives as well as being awake to the dangers. I don’t think it’s something that needs more attention than other things that people are already doing online.”
