There are a lot of new things in store for esports 2017. Not only will firms employ different brand strategies but they will also be able to offer new genres and products due to new users and a more easily reached consumer segment.

Forbes contributor Paul Armstrong wrote an article about his interviews with several executives present at the Mobile Games Forum in London. According to one of the executives he spoke to, a new wave of users of competitive video gaming is heralding the arrival of a different genre.

There is a new demographic among the consumer segments of esports and that is the “mobile first generation;” these are people who grew up with smart and specifically touch screen devices. The Product Director for Space Ape, Tony Yang, shared that these users will desire for a deeper experience and as such, new genres like FPSes and MOBAs will be more viable.

Another executive spoke about new plays for esports 2016. Ryan Chaply, the esports program manager for Twitch, stated that new kinds of play will be available to gamers. He said these will be more profound and engaging thanks to reward mechanics and dynamic social integrations, thus redefining experiences.

In addition, for the Director of New Business for Optimove, Matt Colman, churn, which is a consumer segment that is deprioritized, will be more easily tapped into. Gamers that are part of the segment churn can be identified and incentivized due to the “zig zag phenomenon” wherein active users come back repeatedly after they leave.

On a branding level, the MD of ESL UK, James Dean, told Armstrong that developers will use self sustaining strategies instead of badging exercises to run efficient esports programmes all over the world. He cites the physical races of FormulaE esports as an example.

According to Jobs & Hire, esports is now a multibillion dollar industry where players from all over the world compete in teams in what is the biggest collection of professional gaming. To read more about it, click here.