In many ways, 2016 has been a great year for esports. The industry has made some significant improvements in everything from player welfare and contract negotiation to competitive prize pool increases and stadiums at which competitions are hosted. But for all the nice there's always someone, or something, on the naughty side.
Here are two of each from 2016 in a naughty and nice list.
Nice: Money and stability
Money-money-money-moneyyyy. Okay, maybe this isn't our WWE section, but my point still stands: Money in esports this year, as we came off our first boom in 2015 and hit another in 2016, has helped improve the lives of players. We've seen teams become more stable, organizers able to put more into the ecosystem via prize pools and games given life because of the amount of money invested in them.
We've seen sports and entertainment giants bring their money and expertise in esports. Some have done it well, such as Team Liquid's investment from Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber and Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, or the 76ers buying up Dignitas and Apex. But we've also seen mismanaged investments, such as that of Rick Fox and Echo Fox's investments in League of Legends and Counter-Strike.
Regardless of the outcome, money in esports has been great in 2016. In 2017, the esports scene will need to figure out how to control it so it doesn't form a bubble, which could burst quite easily. It has been an improvement overall.
Nice: Player representation and welfare
In 2015, there were some of the biggest atrocities in player welfare in esports. A notable example is Marcin "Kori" Wolski, a player who underwent verbal abuse and threats from a team manager because of his desire to leave a poor team environment. But in 2016, player welfare has changed for the better, and that's mostly because player representation has taken massive steps forward.
This fall alone, multiple agencies, including Evolved Talent Agency and Agency for Professional Esports, launched, helping players get proper representation. Lawyers and agents are no longer repping only teams, as in 2015, but also players, who have seen wage increases, more contracts written to their benefit and fewer difficult situations as a result.
Don't get me wrong: There are still players who encounter contractual issues, but much of this is being resolved because help is now more available. In 2017, if a player is in a major game, whether it be League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or Overwatch (the three most represented for its players), and doesn't have representation, something is off.
Naughty: Team unions guised as otherwise
It's hard for me to put this on a naughty list, but it's the way they've presented themselves more than it is a concept that puts it here. I'm all for sports unions, such as the World Esports Association (WESA) or the Professional Esports Association (PEA). In fact, I would advocate that all parties should unionize in our industry; if you have a skill, collective bargaining isn't always a terrible idea.
The reason this is on the naughty list is because of how both WESA and PEA launched this year. They claim to be unionizing to help their players while simultaneously hiding their own interests. The only union that will ever help the players' interest is one of their own -- something that does not exist currently in esports. We've even seen reports that PEA, a competitor of WESA, will pull its teams from ESL's league, which is part of WESA.
If WESA and PEA were straightforward about their reasoning, to benefit the teams and the organizers involved, they would not be on the naughty list.
Naughty: Counter-Strike gambling
This is easily the most egregious naughty of the year.
The CS:GO community knew it was gambling -- even illegally -- but the real drama of this situation flared when YouTubers HonorTheCall and h3h3productions revealed that fellow YouTubers Trevor "TMarTn" Martin and Tom "Syndicate" Cassell owned a Counter-Strike gambling site that they were simultaneously promoting without disclosure. Potential FTC violations aside, the situation continued to worsen, as esports journalist and host Richard Lewis reported that James "PhantomL0rd" Varga was doing exactly the same thing.
A class action lawsuit was filed, with parents claiming their children stole their credit card information to spend money on in-game skins (the currency for gambling). The lack of age regulations made this industry not only declared illegal, but it also potentially hurt thousands of children.
The controversy sparked a few good things, however. Valve, the creator of Counter-Strike, sent out several cease and desists to many of the Counter-Strike gambling websites, and the Washington State Gambling Commission -- because Valve is based in Seattle -- demanded Valve crack down on these websites.