Gaming
Supercell’s latest mobile success story was built with eSports in mind, so can it succeed?
The big eSports of the world may be hogging almost all of the spotlight right now, especially with the likes of Counter-Strike jamboree ESL One Cologne and Dota world cup The International 6 dominating the summer tournament landscape, but quietly, a mobile revolution is building, and leading the charge is card battler Clash Royale.
Having launched just a few months ago, the latest effort from Clash of Clans creator Supercell has already established a competitive scene, and has recently seen the introduction of an in game tournament system to make competition even easier. Players from all corners of the world are competing in tournaments in game and online, and climbing their way to the top of the ladders.
But for the very top players their goal is, much like many other eSports, the LAN events. Already we have seen a handful of LANs, with the most successful arguably being an ESL tournament in Helsinki a few months ago. The event offered €10,000 to the winner and brought in more than 2.5 million views. This success showed that Clash Royale has incredible potential, which both ESL and Supercell are looking to capitalise on.
“It was an absolute blast,” says Sean Charles, VP of publisher and developer relations at ESL, when talking about the Helsinki event that he hosted. “It was such a fun event for the players and for the audience. It’s really an honour to be part of an event like that, and a memory I hold very dear. It’s a sign of things to come and I’m very excited for the future of competitive Clash Royale.”
ESL is of course best known for its massive eSports events, such as its ESL One series or the Intel Extreme Masters. Over the years the ESL events team has become one of the best at creating these massive stadium events for the biggest eSports in the world, but none of those titles are quite the same as Clash Royale, which presented a few potential issues for the team.
“I wouldn’t call it a challenge, but the fact that it was such a different concept: 200 players going from pool play to finals in the span of an afternoon and evening. It’s a really cool concept the Supercell guys have, but also something relatively new for us,” Charles explains.
“We have hosted competition for mobile games before Clash Royale, and the ESL team is great at iterating and developing the best practices. Where there is a will there is a way. That said, there is always an adjustment period with a new game, as each game is slightly different. Being on mobile makes it different, but not necessarily harder.”
The Helsinki event took place just a few weeks after the official launch of Clash Royale, showing that both ESL and Supercell saw the potential of the game right from the start. Many of the biggest eSports in the world, such as CS:GO, took a few months to build up a solid competitive scene, so it was somewhat of a surprise to see ESL jump into Clash so quickly and do so well – was this just a one off success story?
“We aim to support all games that have a competitive play feature set,” explaines Charles. “ESL actually supports loads of up and coming games in this way. Clash Royale just has more eyes on it due to the massive player base and the hype that comes with that, so people were quicker to notice. I think the Clash Royale Helsinki tournament and our weekly stream prove there is a demand, and that it is very entertaining to watch, so yes I do think it can, and will, succeed as a spectator sport.”
Fast forward a few months and the hype around Clash Royale seems to have died down, though just a touch. Many casual players have moved onto new crazes, such as Pokémon GO, and event streams aren't quite matching the numbers for the Helsinki tournament. However, both ESL and Supercell are committed to Clash Royale as an eSport and both continue to provide services for players. The GO craze may be a flash in the pan, and the success of rival card game Hearthstone on Android and iPhone proves there is a real hunger for deep strategy games on smartphones that can be played at an elite level.
“ESL supports the competitive player base around Clash Royale with grassroots organised play,” says Charles. “Right now, we are running kickoff cups and community cups across the EU and NA regions. We work very closely with Supercell, whether it’s on prizes, structure or any other element of our tournaments. We want to be in sync, as we do with all game publishers and developers.”
Clash Royale is still very early in its eSports life, yet it has already seen success that some titles can only dream of. With the support of both ESL and Supercell it could easily become the most successful mobile eSport ever, and even challenge some of the big PC titles that constantity sit at the top of the Twitch viewership numbers. But from ESL’s point of view does it have the potential to reach the level of their biggest events, such as one day having its own ESL One event, or be a regular part of the Intel Extreme Masters circuit?
“Absolutely, there is no reason why not, we just need to make sure the format adds something of value for the players and the audience,” says Charles. “Initially, I think it’s more likely we’ll see Clash Royale constitute an element of ESL One or Intel Extreme Masters competition. Never say never, the game is still new and it’s audience still growing. Mobile eSports is on the rise and it would be silly to count it out just because it’s not the norm.”
The future certainly looks bright for Clash Royale’s eSports ambitions. Both ESL and Supercell seem to be committed to making it a success, and as the Helsinki tournament proved, there is a massive audience who want to watch competitive matches. While an ESL One Clash Royale event may be a way off, in a few years it could easily be a reality, especially thanks to the incredible early start it has had. All we can do now is go back to destroying those towers, perfecting our cheesy hut based decks and climbing our way up the leaderboards, hoping that one day we may be good enough to play on a massive stage when Clash Royale becomes one of the biggest eSports in the world.
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