Justin Jackson can’t play basketball for a while, but the Mavericks promoted a different craft of his, one that’s done away from American Airlines Center.
Jackson, a 24-year-old reserve forward for the Mavericks and an avid video game player, tweeted last Saturday that he was going to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s new Warzone mode, and that fans could watch his live stream online.
The Mavericks, who don’t have any games scheduled for the foreseeable future because of the NBA’s work stoppage to prevent further spread of COVID-19, shared his Twitch link. Jackson played for 41/2 hours, reaching nearly 150 views.
Mavericks All-Star Luka Doncic implied through his Twitter feed that gaming is all he’s been doing since the league suspended action, and asked how he can set up a stream. He and teammate Jalen Brunson even broadcast two matches of FIFA on Wednesday. (Doncic won both, outscoring Brunson 13-4 on aggregate).
For years, professional athletes have flocked to video games as an outlet for entertainment and competition. Judging by social media activity from some pros over the weekend, their participation has swelled during the moratorium on team and league activities.
Fans can watch their favorite traditional sports stars play games, but guys such as Jackson and Doncic are but casual players in this field. There are bona fide professionals in the industry. They practice eight hours a day and make six-figure salaries to dominate matches among the best.
Though esports events have been postponed or canceled worldwide, their seasons aren’t grinding to a halt. Professional gamers can still compete remotely and maintain the highest level of gameplay — plus, fans can still spectate and do so without charge.
North Texas has plenty of esports options for those looking for more. Two of the industry’s giants, Envy Gaming, backed by Dallas businessman Kenneth Hersh, and Complexity Gaming, which has the support of Jerry Jones, are becoming staples in North Texas in an industry that’s predicted to reach $1.7 billion worldwide in the next year.
These aren’t kids playing games in their basement deep into the night. Sports filled a void for many, and esports can deliver now because the two industries are closer than they may appear. In both, the best in the world gather to compete for high stakes and big money.
Levels to This
The best Jackson or Doncic could do right now may be shooting hoops in their own driveways or working out on their own. Esports stars could do their whole job remotely, though
In fact, the Mavericks already have an esports team: Mavs Gaming competes in the NBA 2K League.
Artreyo “Dimez” Boyd, 24, became their star the moment he was drafted first overall in the 2K League draft in 2018. Boyd has heard all the criticism from “it’s not a sport” to “anybody can do that.”
“My response is, and always will be, ‘Well, you come do what I do,’” Boyd said. “Whether I tried playing with an ex-girlfriend or a best buddy, they pick up a controller and can’t shoot a jump shot, and that’s one button. It looks easy just like anything else with traditional sports.
“I can’t go out there and do what Luke Doncic does. I guarantee a casual fan or hater can’t pick up a controller and do what I do.”
The reality is, like NBA players, nobody could replicate what Boyd or any esports professional does. There’s a reason tens of thousands of people tune in to watch esports professionals play. The amount of people at a global level who consider themselves esports enthusiasts is growing at a speedy pace, and could reach nearly 300 million by 2022, according to Statista.
There are true leagues, too. Envy Gaming, based in Victory Plaza adjacent to the AAC, has two teams, the Dallas Empire (Call of Duty) and Dallas Fuel (Overwatch) competing in city-based leagues just like the NBA or NFL. Their players were signed to contracts, and they traveled and competed before the coronavirus outbreak.
Empire star James “Clayster” Eubanks, a two-time world champion at age 27, which is considered older for an esports talent, didn’t care if Call of Duty was a sport or not.
“There’s competition, rules and a winner,” Eubanks said. “You can argue about what it is or isn’t, but in the end it’s entertainment.”
COVID-19 has had its impact in the esports community — all live events for Envy Gaming were postponed, including homestands for the Fuel and the Empire — but the pandemic couldn’t stop the competition or hold back organizations from sharing their teams with fans. The Fuel will resume play, albeit online, March 28-29.
The Empire’s home series set for that same weekend at Toyota Music Factory was canceled. It was the team’s opportunity to play in front of its home base for the first time, as the Call of Duty League was in the middle of its inaugural season.
The Empire will still get to play league matches, just not to a live audience. Both Overwatch League and Call of Duty League matches are broadcast free on YouTube.
“What’s great about esports is that a lot of the competition actually started online, and many official matches were held there,” Envy Gaming owner and CEO Mike Rufail said.
“That was all until the funding put us all in a spot to invest in the live events more. So this isn’t something we are too worried about because we have a good connection and a decent amount of infrastructure to play competitive matches on the internet.”
Impacted
The esports world has been impacted by the pandemic in several ways, from disrupting travel to preventing international teams in the Overwatch League from competing against Western squads.
There were significant hiccups with some of the logistics once it became unwise to travel. Frisco’s Complexity Gaming, which has esports teams for nine different titles, including Fortnite, Apex Legends, FIFA and Madden, had their Counter-Strike team stranded in Europe after a competition.
Kyle Bautista, the chief operating officer at Complexity, said they had to weigh a couple of options, which led to the decision to have the team stay in Denmark.
“We had to make a rather difficult decision about whether we were going to bring our team home around all the travel concerns or if we wanted to hunker down in a place we were confident they would be safe and stable and continue to do their jobs,” Bautista said.
Even displaced, they can still do their jobs, and esports can continue to thrive despite the inconveniences brought about by the coronavirus outbreak.
Rufail said Envy has a new internet router, and as long as they make sure competition teams have similar connections, they can fairly compete.
Many items are carried over from traditional sports to the online gaming world. The team chemistry, dynamic talent and trash talk have been cornerstones of how the industry entertained.
“Any fan of sports and any fan of basketball will easily be drawn into the NBA 2K League. This is coming from a serious fan of sports and a former player in myself,” Boyd said. “I love basketball and listening to trash talk. People love stuff like that.”
Sports may be gone for a bit, but North Texas still has world-class competitors, and they won’t be stopped.
Five Popular Esports Titles in which notable North Texas competitors thrive:
Overwatch: The games describes itself as a team-based shooter and matches consist of animated heroes in a 6-on-6 battle to control objectives with unique abilities. The Dallas Fuel, owned by Envy Gaming, compete in the Overwatch League.
Call of Duty: One of the most tenured titles in all of gaming history, Call of Duty remains a first-person arena shooter that rewards mechanical skill. The Dallas Empire, also owned by Envy Gaming, compete in the Call of Duty League.
Counter-Strike: Otherwise known as CS:GO, the game is also a first-person shooter where teams use angles and strategy to arm, or disarm, an objective. Complexity and Envy both have CS:GO teams, and Complexity’s group is in the middle of it’s ESL Pro League season.
NBA 2K: Professional basketball meets the video game world as the best players compete in 5-on-5 games under NBA rules. Whoever has the most points at the end of regulation wins. Mavs Gaming went 12-4 in the 2019 season.
Apex Legends: Apex is a battle royale game, where teams of three select characters with different strengths to land on an island with 60 others to collect loot and be the last to survive. Apex is still a growing esport, but has survived in its spot longer than most battle royale titles.
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