No need to prove how an app idea can lead to a profitable startup and eventually a giant business. The app development market has plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to start a new venture. One such excellent opportunity you can consider is developing an eSports app. eSports is one of the fastest-growing markets in the gaming area. And the credit for this goes to emerging technologies, fast Internet speed, and growing demand for interactive video games. As per the Statista report, in 2021, the eSports market size was 1.08 billion USD, which is approximately 50% growth from the last year. Also, in 2024, the industry revenue is forecasted to reach almost 1.62 billion USD.
However, in order to sustain in this huge market, you need to build a robust, unique, and highly engaging app. And for this, you have to be knowledgeable of every aspect including the technologies, tools, features, monetization options, and more. This blog post will get you acquainted with all such crucial factors that will lead you towards a successful eSports app. Before that, let’s have a glance at some more reasons to invest in eSports app development.
Why Should You Invest in Esports App Development?
eSports has all the qualities of real sports, including leagues, teams, prizes, tournaments, and more. It offers plenty of interactive, multiplayer video games, such as Overwatch, Counter-Strike, Fortnite, and many more. Overall, eSports provides an inclusive package of entertainment that does not engage both video gaming and sports fans. Due to this, eSports managed to create a huge fan base worldwide. More and more people are inclined to watch their favorite eSports leagues and tournaments. In fact, as per the Statista report, there may be around 286 million eSports fans across the world, which is a huge growth from the 197 million in 2019.
Moreover, the number of both amateur and professional eSports players is growing rapidly each year. This is not only because of the entertainment factor but the excellent earning opportunity as well. Players can earn a good deal of money by playing their favorite eSports titles. Besides this, eSports has emerged as a giant industry with plenty of job opportunities for commentators, coordinators, coaches, hosts, marketing specialists, event managers, SMM managers, and more.
Considering all the above facts and stats, we can conclude that eSports is surely a lucrative market to invest in. By launching a unique eSports app you can acquire a big audience base and generate a great deal of revenue. You can set up a profitable startup with one powerful eSports app idea.
Decide What Type of eSport App You Want to Create
Now that you are confident about your decision to build an eSports app, you are good to go to work on it. Your first step will be to decide what type of eSports app you want to develop for your venture. Different eSports apps have different functionality and features. Therefore, you have to make an intelligent choice by keeping your goals, budget, market scope, and other aspects in mind. Here are the most popular variations of eSports apps you can choose from.
- eSports betting apps
- Tournament streaming apps
- Forum apps
- Statistics and tracking apps
- Team management apps
Essential Features of eSports App
Features are what makes an app unique and engaging. The more useful and interesting features your app offers the better user base it will have. Check out the list of all the crucial features you must cover in your eSports app for a great engagement rate.
- Registration/Sign-in
- Easy Onboarding
- Live Streaming
- Leaderboards
- UserProfile
- Calendar and Scheduling
- Live Statistics
- News Feed
- Create/ Join Tournaments
- Settings
- Personal Profiles
- Referral Programs
- Multiple Payment Gateways
- Multi-lingual Support
- Live Chat
- Analytics
- Social Media Sharing
- Push Notifications
- Video Player
Technology Stack for eSports App Development
Choosing the right technology is another crucial factor in order to build a robust and scalable eSports app. The tools, technologies, and frameworks will vary depending on your choice of platform(iOs, Android, Web, or Cross-platform). Also, the tech stack will depend on the functionality and unique features of your app.
Database | MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB |
Frameworks (iOS) | Swift, Xcode |
Frameworks (Android) | Flutter, Kotlin |
Frameworks (Web) | Node.js |
APIs | Amazon GameOn, Abios Esports API |
Cloud Technologies | Wowza Streaming Cloud |
Besides the above stack, it will be an added advantage if your team knows emerging technologies like Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, AI, and more.
How to Build an eSports App from Scratch?
Here are some important steps you need to follow for creating an eSports app and making it successful.
Thorough Market Research
The eSports industry is evolving rapidly. Every year you will find some amazing trends that are drawing fans’ attention. Also, there might be a few apps similar to yours that you have to compete with. You must be up-to-date on all such aspects before you begin your project. In this case, doing thorough research will be of great help. During this research, you must find answers to some important questions, like:
Who will be your competitors?
What strategies competitors are using for user acquisition and retention?
What are the factors the audience likes about competitors’ apps?
How can you do better with your eSports app to outperform the competition?
Who will be your target audience?
What are their expectations and needs?
What are the emerging trends in the eSports area?
All this research information will surely help you to build more unique and powerful eSports apps that can attract the maximum audience and retain the maximum number of users.
Find the Best eSports App Developers
Your selection of eSports developers or an eSports software development company will have a significant role in the success of your app idea and startup. Therefore, you need to be extra careful during this stage. Make sure you look into all the below aspects when selecting eSports app developers.
- Industry Experience
- Technology Expertise
- After-development Support
- Portfolio
- Reviews and Testimonials
- Communication Flexibility
- Confidentiality and Security
- Project Management
- Development Methodologies
Wire-framing
You must decide the overall structure of the app before beginning the actual app development. In the wireframing stage, you have to create a visual guide that depicts the rough structure of your application.
Design
UI/UX design will have a major contribution in attracting and retaining users for your app. Your app should have a highly engaging interface so that it can easily draw users’ attention and keep them engaged. However, the UI should also be simple enough so that users’ won’t get confused and leave the app sooner. From designing the navigation menu to choosing the color schemes you must keep users in mind during every aspect of app designing.
Development
Once you have a perfect UI design ready, get to the programming part. Focus on writing scalable code for your app considering your future business objectives. Make sure you use the most appropriate tools and frameworks in order to build a high-performing eSports app.
Testing and QA
Once you write the entire code, you have to test the app for various aspects, including usability, performance, appearance, security, compatibility, and more. This will help you launch a bug-free and smooth-performing application ready for the use of end-users.
How to Make Money with eSports App
The biggest concern entrepreneurs have about eSports app development is how they can make money or how they can make their app startup profitable. There are many ways to monetize an eSports app. Here are the five of the most popular options you can consider.
Subscriptions
Subscription is one of the finest monetization strategies used by many successful apps today. You can provide users with free eSports content for a specific period and then charge them a subscription fee for accessing full content and enjoying the app features seamlessly.
In-app Purchases
The in-app purchases model is quite a straightforward monetization method. With this model, you can sell a range of virtual items, such as additional features, restrictive levels, power-ups, and more directly from your app.
Advertising
Advertising is the most popular strategy to make money from apps. You can earn by displaying commercials of brands, inside your eSports app. You can also choose affiliate marketing in which the third-party ad networks pay you money. There are different types of ads used for app monetization, such as banner ads, in-app video ads, interstitial ads, native ads, and more.
Develop the Best eSports App with Experts at Betfoc
The eSports market is growing at a great pace, thus it is advisable to begin executing your eSports app idea as soon as you can. The sooner your app will get into the market the better outcomes you will get. Therefore, you must find a development partner ASAP. Betfoc is one of the best eSports software development companies that can help you develop the most innovative and engaging eSports app from scratch. We are renowned for providing a range of eSports solutions, including eSports app development, eSports tournament platform development, and many more.