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Clash Royale is developed by the Finnish mobile game company called Supercell. The name might not ring any bells but the same company is behind a few popular games such as Hay Day and Clash of Clans. In 2012, Supercell was named as the best startup company in the Nordics (Good News from Finland, 2012).

How is this game addictive?

As other mobile games, Clash Royale has a compulsion loop. The loop’s purpose is to hook the player through “a habitual, designed chain of activities that will be repeated to gain a neurochemical reward” (Kim, 2014). Moreover, it is based on the core loop. In Clash Royale, the core loop goes as follows:

• Anticipation: the player has a need to advance in ranking
• Action: play against other players
• Reward: gain a chest which grants resources

The compulsion loop is an extension of this. There are three parts to it, namely habitual, designed chain of activities and neurochemical reward. As the predecessors, Clash of Clans and Hay Day, Clash Royale fosters these loops and gives (or causes) players a reason to come back to the game.

The initial monetization

Clash Royal launched with gem (bought with real money) and gold (bought with gems) packs. The prices of these packages did not vary from the industry average. The game encouraged the player to spend these resources on following objects:

• Gems: opening chests, purchasing, creating tournaments
• Gold: upgrading units, purchasing cards in the shop

Clash Royale is designed in such a way that the player can play the game without any restrictions but at the same time they are not motivated to do so. At any point, a player can be opened one at the time. To advance faster, the player has to spend gems in order to open these chests. This was a main incentive for a player to spend their gems.

 

After the update

In the September update, Supercell altered Clash Royale’s game modes and monetization. As for modes, the tournament was changed in order to incentive players to use their games and therefore, to spend more money. Previously, the tournaments were available but they were hard to find and participate in. After the rework, player is able to pay a participation price of 10 or100 gems. Moreover, new chests and cards were added. However, the most important update was the addition of packages for purchase. This included several packages which could be purchased either with gold, gems or real money. The packages were modeled as a special offer which lasted 24 hours. Furthermore, these packages returned in case the player did not purchase them before (Clash Royale, 2016).

The impact of this update was immediately visible as Clash Royale climbed the Top Grossing chart by a few positions (Kooistra, 2016). Moreover, the packages were such a huge success that Supercell’s flagship game Clash of Clans implemented them.

 

Sources

Clash Royale, 2016. Update: New Tournament Mode, Cards & Chests!. [online] Clashroyale.com. Available at: <https://clashroyale.com/blog/release-notes/update-new-tournament-mode-cards-chests> [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].

Good News From Finland, 2016. Supercell named best startup company in the Nordics – Embassy of Finland, London : News & Current Affairs. [online] Finemb.org.uk. Available at: <http://finemb.org.uk/Public/default.aspx?contentid=265141&nodeid=35864&culture=en-GB> [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].

Kim, J., 2016. The Compulsion Loop Explained. [online] Gamasutra.com. Available at: <http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JosephKim/20140323/213728/The_Compulsion_Loop_Explained.php> [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].

Kooistra, J., 2016. September’s Top iOS Games: Clash Royale Update Monetizes in US. [online] Newzoo. Available at: <https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/top-ios-games-in-september-clash-royale-finds-new-ways-to-monetize-in-us/> [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].

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VR? What it is?
VR stands for Virtual Reality which contains two definitions. ‘Virtual’ stands for near and ‘reality’ to what we experience. Therefore, the term basically means ‘near-reality’ (Virtual Reality, 2016).
VR is one of the most discussed technologies during the past few years. The rapid development of technologies, such as depth sensing cameras and motion controllers, has enabled the golden year of 2016. During this year, multiple companies, Oculus Rift, HTC, Valve, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment, have released their own VR worlds (Virtual Reality, 2016). Now, the technology is accessible for consumers.
What is eSports then?
According to TechTerms (2016), eSports is defined as “a general term to describe video game competitions”. The industry has been predicted to reach a value of $910 million in 2016 (Castillo, 2016). A good example of the size of eSports is the Dota 2 world championship, which had a prize pool of $20.7 million, where $19.2 million was provided by the gamers and not the company itself (Dota 2 Prize Track, 2016). Sounds incredible, right? So, the question arises: can VR change the current landscape of eSports? Also, two different perspectives have to be taken into account: the player and the viewer.

Player’s perspective
At the moment, the most popular eSport genre is MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) which includes Riot Game’s League of Legends and Valve’s Dota 2 (Gaudiosi, 2016). The genre accounts for 58% of total hours watched. This genre implements third person view from top. On the other hand, the second most popular genre is shooter games, which covers games such as Counter Strike: Global offensive and Call of Duty, to name a few (Gaudiosi, 2016). These games are mainly utilizing first person view. Based on the view point alone, it can be concluded that currently VR is easier to implement into the latter genre when considering the player perspective. However, there are possibilities for changing the current eSport game landscape.
Together with VR, new VR exclusive games are emerging. One of the more notable ones is Rigs, a Playstation VR launching title. The game is categorized as first person shooter (FPS). The uniqueness of this game is based on the cohesion of movement and VR experience which feels incredible real (Haywald, 2016). As an example, the player does not aim with the controller but with vision (to aim, the player has to look in that direction). As Haywald (2016) expresses, the jumps have potential to scare the player. Moreover, previously unattractive genres, such as racing, have a possibility to break through with the help of VR, mainly through enhanced spectator experience.

Spectator’s perspective
As for the viewers, VR is a great extension. Currently, the viewers are able to spectate a game from same perspectives as the players. The most attractive attribute of eSports is that the viewers can spectate the game from any place as the games are streamed through Twitch, a live streaming video platform.
VR can enhance current spectating by placing the spectator in the game itself. The possibilities are almost endless. Valve, most well-known from the digital distribution platform Steam, recently launched a VR hub for Dota 2 in 2016, which was enabled by HTC Vive launch earlier this year. In there, the player is able to jump into the game and see full sized avatars and move across the map at any point in time (Kuchera, 2016). This empowers players to choose their position and feel as they were part of the game. Further, by jumping into the game, the fans are able to follow their favorite player or team. Esports is enjoying a fan culture which would strengthen from this possibility. Overall, the positioning option provides spectators a feeling of freedom. Moreover, currently unpopular genres can benefit from the VR. As an example, racing games would be able to provide the player view to the spectator. This, if something, could greatly increase the interest in the genre.
So is it a yes or no?
It depends. The main point is that VR can offer great new possibilities as well as enhancing opportunities. However, some game genres have easier time in implementing VR than others.

Sources:
Dota2 Prize Track, 2016. The International 2016 – Dota 2 Prize Pool Tracker. [online] Dota2.prizetrac.kr. Available at: <http://dota2.prizetrac.kr/international2016> [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].
Castillo, M., 2016. ESports industry booming, advertisers want in. [online] CNBC. Available at: <http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/09/the-esports-industry-is-about-to-boom-advertisers-want-in.html> [Accessed 22 Oct. 2016].
Gaudiosi, J., 2016. These Are The Most Popular ESports Games On Twitch. [online] Fortune. Available at: <http://fortune.com/2016/04/06/most-popular-esports-games-on-twitch/> [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].
Haywald, J., 2016. RIGS Mechanized Combat League Review. [online] GameSpot. Available at: <http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/rigs-mechanized-combat-league-review/1900-6416548/> [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].
Kuchera, B., 2016. Spectating Dota 2 in VR is amazing, watch it in action. [online] Polygon. Available at: <http://www.polygon.com/2016/7/29/12325418/dota-2-vr-valve-vive> [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].
Reality, V., 2015. What is Virtual Reality? – Virtual Reality. [online] Virtual Reality. Available at: <http://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/what-is-virtual-reality.html> [Accessed 22 Oct. 2016].
Tech Terms, 2016. eSports Definition. [online] Techterms.com. Available at: <http://techterms.com/definition/esports> [Accessed 22 Oct. 2016].

Picture:

Pocket Gamer, 2016. VR and eSports: a match made in heaven?. [online] Pocket Gamer. Available at: <http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Oculus/Oculus+Rift/feature.asp?c=69072> [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].