News Team VVV Racing Game Awards 2018: Best Automotive Esport

This year sees the introduction of the Best Automotive Esport Award, recognising progress in expanding Esports and developing the genre. This award takes three main aspects into account. Structure: in terms of the transparency of entry and the range of options to enter. Exposure: the amount and style of exposure within its remit. Media: this is a core aspect that relates directly to Team VVV and other gaming publications being able to cover the event without restriction and with the access necessary for transparent coverage. And Execution: how the event was displayed and presented to the audience.

Run by the ESL and with the finals hosted by Hyundai, this saw the second year of a major Esport event by the WRC. Given the quality of the WRC 7 game, this gave greater credibility to proceedings. Unfortunately, the event did not invite gaming media due to media restrictions, so we weren’t able to cover it.

Entry options were also quite limited as press releases were not made available, so we were not able to keep up and inform during the qualifying rounds. The event was fun to watch, but the presenters lacked chemistry: it all felt a bit awkward and the final was ultimately confusing to follow. The game also lacked replay cameras and overall coverage. The potential was there but it didn’t quite come together coherently. Next year promises lots of improvements and we expect both the ESL and WRC to take note. 

Undoubtedly the biggest event in terms of Esport exposure, F1 shows true potential with professional replay cameras in-game matching the official sport, creating an authentic TV atmosphere. This gave the organisers ‘Gfinity’ lots to work with, but there is a range of areas for improvement.

If you were in the right F1 community, you’d be in the know, but outside of that exposure of the qualifying events could have been clearer. Media access was virtually non-existent, offering zero access and transparency to any games industry publication. Certainly, this was our experience from Gfinity, Codemasters and F1, and we hope to see this improve.

The final event weekend was very exciting. However, the commentary was too forced and over-emphasising, thus devaluing the gameplay – a common trait when commentating video games that harks back to the ‘shoutcaster’ style. Also, like WRC, the combination of guest presenters was like chalk and cheese with two completely different era’s clashing. All finalists were also able to use any viewpoint during the race, which doesn't seem suitable for competitive Esports racing. Overall, there is certainly, room for improvement in all areas. 

Milestone made considerable progress in MotoGP 2017, and this added polish was the perfect timing for Dorna to introduce their MotoGP competition. Indeed, the finals were spectacular, if you had the opportunity to see them. Trouble is, there's a good chance you missed it. Like F1, media access was non-existent for games media, the communication on the qualifying events could have been better, and the overall competition was dominated by Italian and Spanish contestants, or at least that is what the finals represented from our perspective. In truth, very little access resulted in a competition with much potential, but almost zero support for the winner. There was a lot of potential but there's a lot for Dorna to do in terms of communicating its content to gamers and keeping a transparency on the competition. 

Despite that slow start, McLaren brought everything together in professional style and ultimately their winner. Rudy Van Buren has gone on to produce fantastic results in the Race of Champions and even posing with the drivers at the launch of their 2018 F1 challenger. More than just a games competition, Rudy will actually be involved in testing his skills to the limit on a daily basis and is the only competition winner to get this form of consistent position within a company.

The media access was open and transparent throughout, and kinks in the early part of the year will no doubt see better organisation following the appointment of Director of Esport: Ben Payne. There is still room for improvement in terms of organisation and coverage, but credit where it's due. McLaren is not only the first automotive company outside of the core competitions to invest in Esport on this scale, they also made it a worthwhile goal with truly universal appeal across the different entry formats. All of this makes McLaren’s Worlds Fastest Gamer our winner of Best Automotive Esport in this year’s Team VVV Awards. 

Do you agree with our winner? Let us know in the comments below. Check back soon for more Team VVV Awards 2018 coverage on the website and YouTube channel throughout March.