Esports 2024: Leveraging The Power of Official Game Data

Esports is a rapidly growing market that presents abundant opportunities for growth and expansion.

But what is the importance of official game data for leveraging these opportunities and securing a sustainable customer base? And, most importantly, is the price worth it?

We sat down with Alex Kozachenko, Chief Product Officer at DATA.BET, to discuss his perspective on the significance of official data in creating competitive advantage, satisfying customer expectations and increasing acquisition and retention rates.

Why is it so important for operators to use official game data as opposed to scraped data? What are the main benefits for the operator and the customer?

“Official data serves as the ‘source of truth’ directly obtained from game servers, ensuring the live state of games played. In such cases, the probability of data corruption falls to near-zero. The importance of this data lies in harnessing the most realistic feed, allowing to build the most reliable product in terms of speed, accuracy, and correspondence to the in-game reality.

“Moreover, official data tends to be the most comprehensive, providing an extensive array of available data points. This richness enables operators to maximise the widest product line in terms of live markets, making widgets work as fast as possible and carrying as much data on the game state as the licensors allow. Basically, official (or licensed) data is the key to creating a product that not only satisfies customer expectations but increases acquisition and retention rates.

“Using scraped data introduces various challenges, such as: Longer delays, risk of fraud, and limited content. These issues directly impact user loyalty, leading to a negative effect on profits. The compromised user experience, characterised by slower updates, security concerns, and restricted content, diminishes the platform’s appeal, making users less likely to remain engaged, therefore negatively affecting operators’ profits.”

What are some of the key ways game data can be best leveraged to create engaging side content for esports fans and bettors?

“In the context of esports betting solutions, we obviously think of the live market line, that should enhance the experience of esports fans. Unlicensed data often confines itself to a basic kit of markets like “winner”, “1×2”, “handicaps” and “over/under.

“Licensed data, meanwhile, drastically enriches the player experience with a more personalised line that not only covers the basics but also supports betting on markets related to a specific player, runs with markets that settle every 2-3 minutes, and allows building within the same live event.

“At DATA.BET, we actively implement these possibilities through our innovative ‘Player Props’ feature, providing a dynamic and tailored betting experience for users and enabling them to place bets like Total Kills and Total Deaths of their favourite athletes.

“Beyond the market line, official data enables the creation of widgets, such as the pitch tracker and scoreboards, ensuring customers can follow the live state of their favourite games regardless of internet quality or devices used.”

Issues of game data latency and delay have always been prevalent in the esports world. Do you think these issues can ever be overcome? And, if so, how?

“It depends on the interpretation of “delay” and “latency”. If we’re referring to the past with live stats arriving with a three-to-five-seconds delay, this was once a common state of things.

“But the industry landscape has evolved significantly over the past five-years. The emergence of sophisticated licensed data, disseminated directly from tournaments through data platforms like GRID and Bayes, has revolutionised the industry.

“Previously, operators relied on scouts, data parsing, and trading from open sources. Thus, there would always be some proxy on data’s way between the operator and realistic game state. Now, when the data is available for usage, “latency” or ”delays” become a thing of the past and open the doors to undelayed content.

“A minimal delay, or ideally no delay at all, is indicative of a provider that prioritises efficiency and real-time information. In the context of our products, DATA.BET takes pride in having one of the minimal delays in the market, offering premium solutions for both B2C (operators) and B2B (software platforms) clients.

Some industry commentators argue that one of the biggest barriers for accessing reliable game data is the associated cost, leading them to look for cheaper options. How can this issue of cost be best approached? How can reliable data help operators be more profitable?

“Obviously, official data comes at a cost. Open sources have mostly been free of charge to build the product and would allow for certainty of reliability. However, there is a great difference in the quality of products derived from “free of charge” data and paid sources. The key significance of licensed data is not just being the widest in terms of available data points, but also in being unified.

“Consistency means that the data flows the same way regardless of sports, whether it’s CS2 or Dota2, making the integration process smoother and helping to save costs.

“In a nutshell, there are plenty of benefits, starting from the opportunity to build a sustainable and reliable product that is wide and risk-averse, which contributes to cost savings throughout the integration phase.

“The positive impact and advantages of utilising official data resonate not only in increased profits but also in reinforcing brand influence and heightened loyalty among the audience. These strategic advantages contribute to a strengthened market position in the long-term, aligning with the overarching goals of any business striving for sustained success in the dynamic landscape of the iGaming industry.”

Editor’s Note:

After speaking with Alex, it’s clear that official game data is the best investment for operators and that companies like DATA.BET make integration more straightforward. 

Unlike scraped data, licensed data provides more reliable results, enables operators to make faster decisions, and provides the flexibility to offer a greater range of betting markets, giving them an edge over the competition. 

And overall, the benefits for long-term sustainability, customer loyalty, and profit far outweigh the initial costs.