Electronic sports (esports) is a growing and potentially lucrative segment of the video games industry with relatively few players in the Caribbean region. Dexton Graham, the Lead Tournament Organiser of the Jamaica eSports Initiative and the Founder of Electronic Sports Jamaica discusses: how big esports is in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean; key challenges Caribbean gamers and esports enthusiasts face; how local groups and federations are handling the concerns about health risks and disorders linked to gaming; and the efforts that are being made to grow esports in the region, in terms of the number of players and the prize money offered.

 

This episode is also available on SoundCloud, Apple iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and on Stitcher!

In an article and a podcast episode we released in the first quarter of 2021, we started a conversation on video games and gamers. As much as we tend to view video games as just entertainment, globally, the video games industry was estimated to be worth nearly USD 160 billion in 2020 and is projected to exceed USD 200 billion by 2023.

Electronic sports (or esports) is a segment of the video games industry comprising competitive and organised video games. By 2030, it is estimated that esports will reach a market size of USD 12.5 billion, and grow with a compound annual growth rate of 21.9% during that period (Source:  Grand View Research).

In the Caribbean region, there are a fair number of gamers, but it has unclear how big esports is in the region. So today we are continuing the conversation on video games by focusing on esports, which is growing in popularity and can be a lucrative endeavour.

 

Introducing our guest

Dexton Graham

Dexton Graham is a Jamaican tech enthusiast and gamer with a passion for esports. He has been playing video games since the early 1990s, and started Electronic Sports Jamaica after watching the League of Legends Worlds championship in 2013. Through Electronic Sports Jamaica he has hosted over 50 tournaments over the past eight years.

Dexton is a graduate of the University of Technology in Jamaica and works as a Business Systems Analyst. As expected and outside of work, he spends most of his spare time playing video games and hosting esports tournaments. He is also the Lead Tournament Organiser of the Jamaica eSports Initiative to further aid in the development and growth of esports in Jamaica.

 

 

Insights into our conversation

If you are not an esports enthusiast, it is unlikely you will appreciate how big esports has become, how quickly it has grown and how lucrative some of the international games have become. For example, the estimated prize pool of The International (also known as the Dota 2 global championship), which Dexton mentioned during our conversation, was over USD 40 million in 2021!

Hence, it should not be a surprise that similar to other sports, groups in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean have been working to develop the ecosystem and nurture talent – even among students – in order to compete locally, regionally and internationally. There seems to be considerable potential for players to not only earn a living from esports, but to make it a career, as currently occurs among other professional athletes, and of course, for countries and teams to enjoy the bragging rights of having the best and brightest players in the field.

Below are key questions posed to Dexton during our conversation.

  1. How big is esports in Jamaica, and if you can, can you give us some insight into esports in the wider Caribbean?
  2. How has esports evolved over the years?
  3. What is the difference between gaming and esports?
  4. How lucrative is eSports?
  5. For some of these games, I would think there require relatively sophisticated equipment, good processing power and considerable bandwidth. Is that true?
  6. What are key challenges Caribbean gamers and esports enthusiasts face?
  7. Although the global industry is highly lucrative, it seems more of a personal benefit. Are there any benefits to countries, and Caribbean countries in particular, from esports?
  8. What is the difference between Jamaica eSports Initiative and Electronic Sports Jamaica?
  9. Are there any eSports tournaments that are imminent?

 

Upcoming esports events

  • Monaco SIM Racing Qualifier – 9 July
  • JEI National eSports League,  League of Legends Tournament:  23—24 July
  • Commonwealth eSports Championship:  6—7 August
    Note:  The Dr Birdz (Jamaica’s National Esports Team) will compete in Rocket League in Birmingham UK
  • JEI National eSports League:  20, 21 and 27 August

 

We would love to hear from you!

Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our Facebook or LinkedIn pages, or via Twitter, @ICTPulse.

Also, if you or a member of your network is interested in joining us for an episode, do get in touch.

Let’s make it happen!

 

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Images credit:  D Graham;  D Graham;  a.canvas.of.light (flickr); Sam Churchill (flickr);  ShanelLVLUP (Wikimedia Commons)

Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell

Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez