â Back to blogHow to build an esports appBy Kyrylo SavytskyiMay 14, 20208 min readesportsNeed more information on how to create an esports app? Check out our article to find the answers to all your questionsđ˝ Table of contents Intro What are esports apps? Best esports apps Key features for an esports app How much does it cost to develop an esports app? How can you earn money with an esports app? Summing up Sports have always been an integral part of human beings. New technologies, new trends, and new opportunities have added something new to sports. Esports is a lucrative sphere for players. Did you know that the US Top echelon players can make up to $15, 000 per a single competition? Esports is also the next big opportunity for app entrepreneurs. According to Statista, the esports market reached $1.1bln in 2019. Itâs impressive, isnât it? What are esports apps? Esports used to mean PC or console games, but with the advent of smartphones, esports has shifted to mobile. Esports games are usually multiplayer and have all the features of traditional sport such as teams, leagues, coaches, competitions, and prizes. Top esports games Dota 2 League of Legends Counter-Strike Fortnite Hearthstone Overwatch Esports was popular among amateurs a couple of years ago. And only when skilled players started streaming their games on streaming platforms, esports became a professional type of sport and a popular kind of entertainment not only for players but also for viewers. Types of esports apps Before making an esports app, you need to find out what esports app youâre going to build. There are several types of an esports app combining different features and functions: | Betting and gambling apps Team management app Streaming apps for tournaments Forum apps Tracking and statistics apps Read also: How to make a sports betting app like William Hill Best esports apps Downloading and testing apps will help you better understand the business niche and find out what features are vital for esports applications. Here are the top three esports apps to test and get great design ideas. Twitch - Live Game Streaming For years, Twitch has been the largest esports platform for players from all over the world. With the app, users can easily watch any esports tournament from amateurs to professional league games. Twitch has millions of active streamers that make it the most popular esports app. Gamers can browse game libraries, track streamers, and watch the most aspiring tournaments in a few clicks. Twitchâs strong points: Unlimited number of streams Interactive life shows Full-featured live chats Dark Mode for late-night sessions Twitchâs weak points: Requires registration App stability Lots of bugs Strafe Esports Strafe has no rivals when it comes to esports news, live scoring, and updates. It has everything you may need for your esports experience. The app covers top leagues all over the world. Strafe allows for following favorite teams, players, and games. Users can access real-time statistics and read the latest esports news in a few taps. Moreover, the app sends notifications when tournaments go live. Strafe Esports is an app for esports score that allows users to predict winners and earn rewards. Strafeâs strong points: Easy-to-use interface Calendar and match tracker Detailed live event information Personalized news feed Earn rewards by predicting the winners Strafeâs weak points: Requires registration Buggy Unstable work Upcomer Esports Upcomer is similar to Strafe. The app also provides access to news, real-time scores, and match updates. It covers the biggest events of the esports world, including the Overwatch League, Call of Duty World Leagues, LCS, Majors, World of Warcraft, and others. Wit Upcomer, users can monitor their favorite teams and games. Thanks to a customized newsfeed, users will receive the latest news and scores of their favorite teams. Upcomer also sends notifications, so users wonât miss any important match or game. Upcomerâs strong points: Intuitive interface A smart game tracking system Tournament brackets Reminders and notifications Real-time match stats Upcomerâs weak points: Too many notifications Lack of match details All the apps mentioned above have their own pros and cons. Having analyzed the best apps for esports, we found out that users definitely need a bug-free and stable application. Then, developing a native app seems a pretty good idea. Check out Android mobile development for more information on how to build an esports app for Android and iOS mobile development to get a better understanding of how to develop apps for iOS devices. Key features for an esports app Registration and login Adding several ways of registration will enhance the user experience. Consider implementing registration via social media or email. An easy login will help increase your conversion and retention rates. Guide Consider adding a simple tutorial that will guide your users through the main features of the app. Personal profile A personal profile contains all the necessary information about the user. For example, credit card details, personal information, etc. With personal profiles, users can easily edit their personal data or change payment details. Push notifications Push notifications will help you communicate with users. You can easily remind them about upcoming tournaments, chart changes, or any other updates through push notifications. And push notifications with images or animations will increase the open rate and help you engage your users. Calendar Users wonât miss any tournaments or events with built-in calendars. Users will be able to check all the upcoming and past tournaments, set reminders, and check all tournament details. Real-time news Itâs one of the most important features of esports apps. The newsfeed should contain the latest news about esports, so users donât need to use other apps or websites. Tournament status Think about the sources where you will get the latest news and the information about tournaments. Users would like to know the status of each league or tournament. Chat and messages Itâs hard to guess what users like more - watching the tournament or discussing the latest games with their friends. Develop an esports app with a built-in chat and youâll kill two birds with one stone. Here your users will communicate and discuss the news instead of leaving the app after they watch the tournament or read all the news. Try to develop not just a mobile app, but create a place where users will love sparing their free time. Leaderboards Leaderboards shows which teams are on top of the game. And donât forget about statistics comparing the current success to the previous experience. It helps users do scouting and place bets. Built-in video player Thanks to a built-in video player, users can replay their favorite moments of the tournament. Even if you donât want to develop an app for live streaming esports events, integrating a video player seems a pretty nice idea. Then you can also make your newsfeed more engaging by adding videos of best moments or interviews with players. List of favorites Allow users to create their list of favorites so they can customize their newsfeed and get notified of any team updates. Payment system In case, youâre offering a subscription, make sure that your payment gateway works. Additional features to win over users Loyalty programs Loyalty or referral programs will help you grow your audience faster and build a loyal community. Start with encouraging users to invite their friends by offering various benefits or discounts. Social media integration Social media can help you attract more users and foster your brand awareness. Allow your users to share stats, tournament results, etc via social media. Multilingual support Esports has no geographical boundaries. People from all over the world take part in tournaments or watch matches. If you want to reach as many people as possible, youâd better add three or four languages. Here are the countries where esports is the most popular: China South Korea Germany USA Russia Brazil Sweden How much does it cost to develop an esports app? Development Time Price Designs 3-5 weeks $1,500+ Mobile App 10+ weeks per platform $12,000 Backend ~2 months $5,000 Admin Panel 1+ month $3,000+ Total 3-4 months $20,000+ Note, the following price estimate is for information only. For a detailed project estimate, please contact us. How can you earn money with an esports app? App monetization is probably the 2nd most asked question. There are several ways of how you can earn money with your esports app. Advertising Advertising is the most all-business way of generating money. It suits nearly all app types starting from games and business planers. Ads work great and donât require much effort from you. Note, placing too many ads can lower the engagement and retention rates of your esports app. Subscription Esports apps can also generate money through subscriptions. Users will regularly pay to get access to your appâs content, for example, live streams or news. However, subscription-based apps need more fresh content, regular updates, and new features. Otherwise, users wonât pay for it. In-app purchases With in-app purchases, you can offer your users paid access to live streams or interviews with top players. Also, you can take advantage of a freemium business model. You can offer some basic features for free, for example, a team chart. And to get access to premium features, for example, live streams of tournaments, users will need to buy a paid version of the app or take out a subscription. Summing up The new technologies have changed the esports market and created more lucrative options for app entrepreneurs. Before going in for esports app development, you need to test all the apps available on the market. This will help you understand the market and discover its weak points. Take an example of the existing apps and add a unique twist to win over the users. They will definitely like a more personalized and bug-free experience. At mova.io, we will go the extra mile to build a five-star esports app. Have a question? Just write to us at: đŽ mail@mova.io Or leave your contact info, and we will write back!
