How to build a PvP game with Esports and hardcore competitive features. 🎮🏅Checklist for beginners.
During working on the PvP game it is often tempting to go towards advanced competitive gameplay or even eSports-related features. Especially when team members are passionate about it. Is it hard to implement? It’s not very difficult to do, but to make everything work together – that is the main challenge. Especially when it goes to the monetization and user engagement parts.
1.🏆Great and popular games have better chances in the Esports field. And it is not working in reverse: games can support Esport and compete perfectly, but that will not make it popular and interesting if it can’t bring some features to stand out in terms of gameplay and overall looks. So it is important to build a good game in the first place.
2.🚀The game should be complete and interesting for the players even without Esports elements.Lot’s of players will play it without focusing on the competitive side. Maybe they will change their mind later in the end, but there should be enough fun for them even only with base game modes.
3.⚽Build foundations of competition like a variation of “yard football” – the more people will be able to touch the basics of competition, the better. It will build the engaged playerbase for more advanced tournaments. But it is better to keep it simple and meaningful to the players. It shouldn’t be complicated and hard to use “because it is Esports”.
4.🚯Don’t sacrifice parts of the game for Esports sake. Especially if it is more important for more casual players, for long term goals or for the monetisation. Such steps may cripple the game’s success and hit the competitive part in the end too.
5.🪙Don’t overinvest in the Esports field beyond reason. Find ways to measure costs and profits, the overall effectiveness. There always may be a point when meaningful and interesting activity can turn into glorified and costly vanity stuff.
6.⚖If the PvP side of the game is too diverse in terms of balance (e.g. there is some active leveling or tier-based gameplay), it will be useful to develop some “competitive” slice of gameplay. For example it can work with selected content similar in power levels or can dynamically tweak power levels like in MMORPG’s.
7. 🚧Hardcore competitive parts should be as clear as possible of pay-to-win-like or DLC-based advantages. Because it devalues the very idea.
8.🛠Build the infrastructure. Training rooms, detailed profile with advanced stats, custom lobby, replays, spectator mode, ability to try content and things like that. It is bread and butter for the competition, better to prepare it in advance.
9.🔫If you don’t have a lot of experience, it may be useful to start with doing simpler, more “casual” competitive features. Just provide players the means to compete.
