You might recall that Roll20 (owned by the Orr Group), a popular online platform for role-playing games, also happens to own an esport team. I asked Nolan T. Jones, co-owner of the Orr Group, what he thought about esports and D&D being back in the spotlight.
Let's get one thing straight: Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner didn't literally mean Dungeons & Dragons should have an esport.
Or rather, he meant he would like to replicate the success of an esport with an online D&D platform, in the same way Wizards of the Coast hopes to bolster their currently-beta Magic: The Gathering Arena game with Twitch streams and competitions. But while Goldner might have confused the terms, Jones certainly knows what he's talking about -- Roll20 invested in esports, announcing their sponsorship in May 2017:
Roll20 is currently between teams, but that hasn't put them off of esports all together. "We parted ways with our original roster because we couldn't come to an agreement on a long term future," said Jones, "but are currently at the tail end of negotiations with a new roster."
But why esports? "People like watching competition," said Jones. "We like watching basketball, quiz game shows, and now video games be played. We like seeing people experience wins and losses in a clearly defined format, and esports is no different from those other pursuits."
The official clarification after Goldner's statement was that "the game has not yet been classified by the company as an esport because of its limited competitive scope." Jones still sees it as a possibility though. "The things about D&D and esports that make sense to me are the amount of statistical min-maxing that can be involved and the emphasis on teamwork. There are so many ways a D&D esport could happen, it's dizzying, so the first thing I'd hope to see is a solid, small scope to get started."
Part of the appeal of esports is closely tied with viewership, and WOTC's frequent references to Twitch are certainly part of the appeal. Jones thinks that's part of what makes an esport possible. "In this new streaming enivornment, it's fair to say that any game can become popular viewing even without direct corporate sponsorship. It was not so long ago that D&D had no real official streaming presence to speak of, and yet Twitch was full of D&D streamers!"
Roll20's platform is large enough that it could easily be a platform for this sort of competition. Jones thinks it depends on how WOTC defined the scope of a D&D esport. "It's fair to say we would WANT to be involved, be it as a platform or a team sponsor or something completely different."
It seems, for now, that a D&D esport is in the distant future. But competitive D&D is not unheard of, and given the game's popularity on digital and streaming channels, the ingredients are there if and when WOTC is ready to jump in.
Mike "Talien" Tresca is a freelance game columnist, author, communicator, and a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to http://amazon.com. You can follow him at Patreon.
Let's get one thing straight: Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner didn't literally mean Dungeons & Dragons should have an esport.
Or rather, he meant he would like to replicate the success of an esport with an online D&D platform, in the same way Wizards of the Coast hopes to bolster their currently-beta Magic: The Gathering Arena game with Twitch streams and competitions. But while Goldner might have confused the terms, Jones certainly knows what he's talking about -- Roll20 invested in esports, announcing their sponsorship in May 2017:
Team 8 will now compete as Roll20 esports. It’s a mildly unorthodox thing for a company like Roll20 to up and jump into esports, but there’s a lot about it that just made sense. We don’t do much advertising (‘cause you all do such a fantastic job of telling your friends about us!) and we feel like the friendly Heroes community might occasionally enjoy taking a break from winning and losing to make more friends on Roll20 in the same way we’ve enjoyed exorcising our competitive Diablo’s in “HotS.”
Roll20 is currently between teams, but that hasn't put them off of esports all together. "We parted ways with our original roster because we couldn't come to an agreement on a long term future," said Jones, "but are currently at the tail end of negotiations with a new roster."
But why esports? "People like watching competition," said Jones. "We like watching basketball, quiz game shows, and now video games be played. We like seeing people experience wins and losses in a clearly defined format, and esports is no different from those other pursuits."
The official clarification after Goldner's statement was that "the game has not yet been classified by the company as an esport because of its limited competitive scope." Jones still sees it as a possibility though. "The things about D&D and esports that make sense to me are the amount of statistical min-maxing that can be involved and the emphasis on teamwork. There are so many ways a D&D esport could happen, it's dizzying, so the first thing I'd hope to see is a solid, small scope to get started."
Part of the appeal of esports is closely tied with viewership, and WOTC's frequent references to Twitch are certainly part of the appeal. Jones thinks that's part of what makes an esport possible. "In this new streaming enivornment, it's fair to say that any game can become popular viewing even without direct corporate sponsorship. It was not so long ago that D&D had no real official streaming presence to speak of, and yet Twitch was full of D&D streamers!"
Roll20's platform is large enough that it could easily be a platform for this sort of competition. Jones thinks it depends on how WOTC defined the scope of a D&D esport. "It's fair to say we would WANT to be involved, be it as a platform or a team sponsor or something completely different."
It seems, for now, that a D&D esport is in the distant future. But competitive D&D is not unheard of, and given the game's popularity on digital and streaming channels, the ingredients are there if and when WOTC is ready to jump in.
Mike "Talien" Tresca is a freelance game columnist, author, communicator, and a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to http://amazon.com. You can follow him at Patreon.
