In the last ten years or so, the esports industry has seen massive and rapid growth. It has expanded from being a stigmatised, under-appreciated concept to a billion-dollar industry, and it’s arguably just getting started.

From the prestigious, decade-old organisations like Intel to the sponsorships being made by some of the world’s leading brands like RedBull, there’s plenty of value in the industry. There’s a community backing the esports industry that’s estimated to number more than 350 million fans from all around the world, and for the most part, it’s a scene being driven forward by PC gaming platforms.

So, with that in mind, what’s Sony PlayStation’s relationship with the esports industry, and why is the firm so eager to become the next best thing in the tournament space?

Can PlayStation Break into the Esports Industry?

Since mid-2022, it has become apparent that PlayStation would love nothing more than to become a key player in the esports industry. Typically, almost every leading esports event (and game) is played on PC, and consoles like the PlayStation 5 fail to even see the light of day on a grand esports-based stage.

Last year, Sony Interactive Entertainment moved to acquire Repeat.gg, a popular esports platform that allows users to host tournaments and leaderboards. Before that, the Japanese conglomerate became the co-owner of EVO, one of the leading tournaments in the fighting game niche.

It doesn’t end there, though – PlayStation also boasts ownership of PlayStation Tournaments, a platform hosted exclusively on the firm’s infrastructure that gives players the opportunity to win money in the ‘PlayStation Competition Center’. This platform was rolled out on PlayStation 5 consoles midway through 2022.

It comes as no surprise that PlayStation would love to further its investment in the increasingly lucrative esports industry. Indeed, it is not just a case that the number of events is getting bigger and that esports fans have started not just to follow the events passively, but also to search for more info to join the events, the related conversations on the internet and to bet on esports tournaments. If you would like to know something more about esports betting, you can visit websites such as esportsbets.com, that give you all the information you need to start betting on the most important esports events.

What’s the State of Play?

For the most part, the esports industry is much more complicated than outsiders may first assume. It isn’t just people playing video games for money, and it doesn’t involve just the biggest games in the world.

Technically, any competitive title can be classed as an esports game, provided some kind of competition, tournament, or leaderboard structure exists within it. These days, the most popular esports games are League of Legends, Dota 2, CS:GO, and VALORANT, none of which can be played on a PlayStation console.

That’s one of the biggest blockers preventing PlayStation from succeeding in the esports industry.

In March 2023, it was revealed that esports would be introduced to what may be an entirely new audience, as the Olympics Esports Series was uncovered. One of the key titles granted a place in this new event was Gran Turismo 7, the latest game in one of the most prestigious franchises in the history of PlayStation.

And that’s the blocker removed – at least, slightly.

There are multi-million-dollar prize pools, thousands of competitors, and countless organisations that make up the esports ecosystem at large. Over time, it’s becoming increasingly popular in the media, and coverage of the industry is leaking out onto platforms that would never have originally given it the time of day.

However, given that the most popular esports games can’t be played on PlayStation, it may be that the concept of the Japanese tech titan breaking into the industry is a non-starter. That doesn’t mean that the firm can’t invest in other ways, such as with the provision of peripherals, sponsorships, and the ownership of competitive platforms.

It’s a matter of diversification, and for PlayStation, arguably the greatest gaming platform in history, that shouldn’t be a problem.