He believes that most casters should fill two of these roles and that viewers should be able to understand the game. “These three groups consist of the veteran viewer, the new viewer and the developer or sponsor team. “I look at each caster and their ability to fill one of the three main categories of people who are more likely to tune into a broadcast.” said Colin Clarke. This explanation better fits the role of casting for esports versus traditional sports. In a recent interview with Gears of War caster Colin “Crow” Clarke, he explains there are really three categories of esports casting. This is so viewers can see the small things that those with veteran knowledge can catch and focus on. As the name implies, they look to explain the action play-by-play. Play-by-play casters, on the other hand, focus on the actual gameplay on the screen. Color casters can also focus on individual players and how they perform on certain characters. These casters focus on teams’ past matches against each other, the different playstyles or in-game performances affected by outside forces (roster changes, in-game patches, etc). There are two types of casting that viewers notice: color and play-by-play casting.Ĭolor casters talk more about the analytics and strategies in the match. Traditional sports and esports casting are quite similar in what casters bring to the table each match. But is the success of tournaments due to the games alone? A good caster can change the whole esports experience for viewers. With prize pools up to the millions, tension can get high, making for thrilling gameplay for the fans. The first-ever esports tournament was held at Stanford University in October 1972. Esports tournaments have been around for over 40 years.