This post will be quite different than my traditional esports posts. Normally I cater to industry people who are looking for assistance with specific topics in esports. However, with covid on the rise and traditional work parties out of the question, there’s no better time to talk trash to your boss over some call of duty or your office’s favorite game. Team building is a great way to break up the tough year many of us have had and what better way than playing some Smash bros, Fortnite or some Rocket League with your peers. No? Well, some of those games aren’t my cup of tea either but it’s always good to keep options open! Either way, corporate team building exercises with esports can help build a sense of comradery and bring teams together.
While this won’t be a professional tier tournament, here are some ideas and things to look for when planning
Have fun while planning your office esports tournament
- Not everyone is going to be someone who has sunk 10,000 hours into a game. Make sure you have a clear enough ruleset and easy enough game that multiple people can enjoy. Did someone say smash bros on the Nintendo? JK Smash doesn’t have online play :D.
- Play an easy enough game where it’s fun for most people. Something like Dota 2 or a Dark souls speed run wouldn’t be fun at all. Try Rocket League, hearthstone, smash, Mario Kart or something chill. I know some of them aren’t traditional esports titles but hey, this post isn’t traditional for me either!
Have Clear rulesets for your esports tournament
- Have someone who knows the games that can create a fun and enjoyable ruleset. Don’t try to leverage pro tier rulesets as there’s a ton of meta & rulesets that people won’t understand.
- Make an easy goal that people can achieve. Ie highest score wins. Play with your boss vs other duos in this double elimination bracket.
- Ensure the ruleset is sent out prior to the matches so people can read. There’s always someone who will ask a ton of questions!
Break it up into teams or tiers or high score competitions
- No one wants to get trounced by ringers. Especially newbies who are just picking up the game for the first time.
- Break up the teams into fair brackets if you can. If you can’t you’re going to have to have a survey with “beginner, intermediate and expert potentially”
- High score competitions eliminate the need for brackets or tiers sometimes. However, you’ll need to set some sort of time limit and monitoring.
Make it accessible for all
- If you own the equipment already then that’s great. However, not everyone may own the necessary console. You could always rent from an event logistics company or contact me and I can put you in the right direction!
- With the rise of cloud gaming and the low pressure situation of this, something like a google stadia may be a good option here!
Make prizing readily available
- Prizing is key. Ensure there’s plenty to go around. This is corporate team building and no one wants to go home a loser. 2020 has been a tough year so make sure you treat your staff right!
- Offer consolation prizes and participation prizes. Cool examples could be “best wipeout” if you’re playing something like Tony Hawk’s pro skater. Another example could be best GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL if you’re playing Rocket League. Let the teams get creative and give them the option of submitting the consolation prize examples
Get a professional to help if you’re stressed out
- Esports event management is tough work. I’ve done it for 10 years on various scales from 4 team tournaments to over 1000 participants at once. It gets easier but it’s incredibly stressful.
- There’s teams dedicated to this type of thing. Even for regular corporate events. This will be a shameless plug but if you need help planning your event, just contact me and I’d be happy to help! Check out some of my accomplishments as well if you’re wondering what I’ve done in esports.
So what do you think? Are corporate esports events the next big thing? Do you need help planning a fun idea but wasn’t sure what to do? Are you a boss hoping to crush your employees during the holidays in more way than one? Leave a comment below and i’ll be happy to reply. As always, thanks for reading!