Fnatic’s New Report Shows Esports Grew Significantly During the Pandemic

London-based esports organisation Fnatic has released a new report that takes a look at how the overall esports industry has fared during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pandemic forced many esports events to be cancelled or postponed, but the report shows that 31.6% of events transitioned from LAN events to being held online, meaning there were no delays or cancellations to the event. For most viewers watching at home, the changes would have been minimal.

The report also shows that only 23.5% of events were outright cancelled, with most of them being postponed and the rest being moved online. As many sporting events, such as Wimbledon, were outright cancelled, it seems that esports took a very different approach.

With online competition still going strong and most traditional sporting events cancelled, a lot of major sporting leagues focus more on esports. F1 was the big winner in this department, with many fans tuning into the online races that at times were hard to distinguish between the real thing. FIFA also saw a big boost, with many professional footballers spending their lockdown playing and streaming the game.