GameClude
gameclude.comis a wagering platform for gamers where they can place bets on their own skills in E-sports matches. Users can play As solo or squads in Head-to-Head matches, League Wars, Clan Wars, and Tournaments formats , In addition, they can challenge friends over real money.
Problem
While playing Battlefield, I wondered why EA charges me to play but doesn't pay me for my time. After some research and drawing on my experience as a tournament organizer, I realized there was a market opportunity.
Solution
Research showed a $1.45B esports market with 26.8% growth. I developed unique tournament algorithms and, realizing my design skills were lacking, focused on learning visual communication to present my ideas to a development team.
Role
Product designer
Designs
App, Web, Admin
Date
Aug 2020 - Ongoing
Tools
Figma, Figjam
As a startup in the e-sports industry our team ideated and went forward to create a market-fit product at beta stage with these achievements:
Entering the E-sports industry is a big challenge for GameClude because of the tough competition, restrictions, and the high demanding users.
Although the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 26.8%, reaching $6.75 billion by 2030, it is a sensitive market that requires seamless user experience.
To tackle these challenges, the GameClude team has done thorough tons os research to understand the market and its users.
With this data and practical product design methods, we translated complex algorithms and designs to a functional and user-friendly platform.
Wagering on your gaming skills has never been easier.
In this case study, we go on a strategic exploration of how built this product for gaming and e-sport market.
We begin by defining how we came by our business strategy, and then comprehensive industry analyses with key opportunities within E-sport sectors.
A thorough competitor market analysis, including detailed reports on direct competitors, to understand market dynamics.
This data informed the development of our product flow and algorithms to ensure seamless user experience.
Finally, the we conclude our process that reached final designs and functional elements of the product, reflecting our user-centric design.
* We go trough a summary of all the work separatly in below sections:
I used my background in business to find practical usage for my designs at GameClude.
I focused on understanding where the business is now and where it needs to go which required doing the market research and finding the strengths of our product.
This concluded in a business plan creation to clear GameClude's mission.
My goal was to deliver solutions that not only meet user needs, but also fit the company's long-term goals.
In the sections that follow, we will go through a summary of my research and how I balanced design with strategic planning.
GameClude operates within the growing e-sports industry that is a part of gaming industry, I would like to give a summary of gaming industry projections before getting into detail about Esports
Gaming Market Overview:
Source: Gaming Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report, 2030 from grandviewresearch.com
Source: Mobile Gaming Market Size & Share Analysis from mordorintelligence.com
There are 3 Billion Players by 2023.
With companies such as Intel and Valve are investing in programs for E-sports events.
Dota 2 international tournaments, for instance, have paid $25.5 million in prizes by Valve. And that's just 1 game title
Moreover, some reports address 1.5 billion total players and 646 million viewers in 2023 for esports events, doubling from 335 million in 2017 and growing from 167 million E-sports monthly gamers in 2018 to 276 million.
Esports has a strong social component that easily connects fans to players and teams through gaming platforms and social media sites such as Twitch and YouTube Gaming.
one fun face is that since 1998, the number of professional gamers has been growing at a rate of 43% per year.
Report from multiple sources: Evolution of the Esports Industry from maryville.edu
E-sports industry research shows an explosion in the market worth and its projections.
Here is confirmation from two sources:
Source: Esports Market Size
By the given reports, The estimations show 276 million monthly gamers playing E-sports games, and GameClude targeted customers are above 18 years old players interested in E-sports competitions.
On the other hand, GameClude runs globally with no limitations regarding regions.
Moreover, we have claims by GameCludes' competitors splitting around $300 million in wager matches between players which we go in detail below.
Assuming that a portion of these gamers is interested in competing and monetizing their skills, We can estimate the S.A.M for GameClude to be in the range of hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of gamers. However, it's important to note that these are just estimates from researched data, and the actual S.A.M. may vary.
Summary of GameClude competitors:
Based on publicly available information, our three main competitors are PlayerLounge, Checkmategaming, and Gamersaloon which have a combined prize share of approximately $65 million per year. They offer a variety of games, including popular titles like EAFC, Fortnite, and Call of Duty, and support thousands of matches per month. We also have reports on 255 thousand matches per month by one of our competitors.
However, At GameClude believe our solution will impact a change in the current market.
Our research suggests that users are looking for a more streamlined and user-friendly experience, as well as access to a wider range of games and challenges.
We plan to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by offering a more innovative and intuitive platform like League Wars and Clan Wars , as well as expanding our game selection to meet the needs of a wider audience.
On the other hand, our solution focues to build a career for gamers where they can show real skills and train for large global annual tournaments.
PlayerLounge:
was founded in 2014 and offers gamers a platform to compete in games such as FIFA, N.B.A. 2K, and Madden with cash prizes.
The platform is based in the U.S.A. and has raised over $14 million in funding. Additionally, they claim to have paid out more than $200 million as of 2024 in prizes to their users since 2018, and we also found evidence on the PlayerLounge landing page in 2019 that the platform had around 255,000 monthly wager matches indicating a large user base.
Checkmategaming:
was founded in 2017 and offers players the ability to participate in competitive gaming events with cash prizes focusing mainly on Call of Duty titles and established itself as a reputable player in the market.
They claim $161.5 million as of 2024 in prizes, with around 11 million played matches since their launch.
The platform is based in the U.S.A., and they are primarily a private company with limited public data.
Gamersaloon:
is a US-based platform founded in 2006 that allows gamers to compete for cash prizes in any chosen game. However, the platform's stability and structure are low due to unwanted wager matches in particular games. The platform claims to have paid out over $100 million in prizes since its start.
They claim $161.5 million as of 2024 in prizes, with around 11 million played matches since their launch.
The platform is based in the U.S.A., and they are primarily a private company with limited public data.
To ensure product development quality, I created product flow for Back-end developers and mind mapping of every logic behind the product algorithm. This resulted in a flawless development process and documented the logic behind the product
Before implementing the product design, I had to come up with a fully functional wireframes in order to Present not only the early user experience but also defining the product algorithm for dev team.
This resulted in an easy understanding of the product's low fidelity look and our user experience expectations.
Although GameClude has clear advantages, several factors such as its base location and limited marketing budget called the product on hold for now. However, the product beta stage is live and accessible at Gameclude.com
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