The state of competitive gaming in South Africa finds itself at a crossroads. This is according to South African eSports team manager Ryan Boyes.<\/p>\n
Boyes told MyGaming that competitive gaming is seeing increased prize-money from marketing companies for competitive gaming events.<\/p>\n
There is also basic development done to improve the standard of eSports by organizations like the MSSA.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, while the prize-money offered may tempt many gamers, the prize-money does not improve standards, nor does it help to grow eSports as a sport,\u201d said Boyes.<\/p>\n
He explained that one just has to look at the performance of South Africa’s \u201cprofessional teams\u201d to see how woefully short they fall of international standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the other hand, the national teams who represent South Africa with pride are currently ranked by IeSF as being 12th in the world,\u201d said Boyes.<\/p>\n
Unless there is a general growth at grass-roots level, said Boyes, there will never be a sustainable growth in both numbers and standard in gaming in South Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cThus the growth in competitive gaming in official structures is improving on a year-to-year basis, whereas the standard among the non-accredited organisations seems to be floundering,\u201d said Boyes.<\/p>\n
Boyes said that, compared to the international scene, South Africa has a long way to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, we are cut off from the rest of the world competitively, due to distance and ping,\u201d Boyes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means it\u2019s difficult for players to get experience from a wider pool of players, like in Europe for example.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in the situation where, in most games, we have isolated ourselves to local servers instead of international servers due to high pings.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that countries like Sweden, Finland and Denmark are close enough that they can play against each other without latency concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis in turn fuels rivalry and competitiveness between countries and players, which pushes players to work harder. This means the skills of players are better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
MyGaming has reached out to Bravado Gaming, one of South Africa’s top MGOs, for their perspective on eSports in South Africa.<\/em><\/p>\n Upcoming Mass Effect\u2019s gameplay leaked<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore gaming news<\/h3>\n