The Growing Popularity of eSports in New Zealand

03 March 2025 at 18:39Back when video games first became available to the public in a big way, most viewed them as children’s toys. Certainly, there were plenty of adults who enjoyed video games, eve in the 80s and 90s, but by and large, the hobby was perceived as childish. However, that is no longer the case. The culture surrounding video games has changed quite significantly, which is among the reasons that eSports is on the rise.

What is “eSports?” 

Street Fighter II, perhaps one of the most influential fighting games, and one of the most influential games in general, released in 1991. It was available on home entertainment systems, of course, but most children at the time were familiar with it from their local arcades. It was in these local arcades that eSports got their start.

For those who don’t know, eSports is a term used to describe competitive gaming. Today, eSports are a big deal. There are professional teams that compete on a domestic and international level, akin to sports. eSports have gotten so popular that there are even sportsbooks online that offer odds on these matches. But, that isn’t the only connection between eSports and iGaming.

Some experts believe that gamers are driven by much the same thrill-seeking behavior that drives gamblers. For that reason, gambling websites that offer real money pokies online tend to share customers with eSports fans, casual, and professional gamers. On top of that, many gambling games online run on the same technology that powers some of the well-known, big league games. 

eSports in New Zealand

New Zealand is not often seen as a leading force in the realm of eSports. However, the truth is that in the past decade, the country’s gaming market has seen explosive growth. Not only have many younger Kiwi gamers been rediscovering the magic of classic games, but they’ve also been getting exposed to more new and top-quality games as well. Of course, this exposure has led to a growing presence in eSports.

It follows reasonably that if a player gets more exposure to a game, then they will become better at said game. It would seem that this is the case here. New Zealand players are getting more opportunities to purchase the latest games early on, and thus have more opportunity to rise to the top. Not only that, but it also leads to a generally better market. Experts are predicting that the eSports market of New Zealand is projected to generate over a billion dollars by the end of 2025. 

What factors could have contributed to this rapid growth in success? There are several things that go into developing a market, especially a digital market like eSports. That is why, in the following few sections, we would like to focus on the contributing factors which have elevated the Kiwi gaming and eSports markets, and have led us to the point at which we are today.

Improving Internet Infrastructure

An industry like eSports is reliant on the internet, there is simply no way around this. In 2011, the average broadband speed in New Zealand was 5 Mbps. While that is a perfectly adequate average internet speed for everyday use, which would involve browsing the web, or even maybe some mild streaming, it was nowhere near good enough to run the latest games at the time in online multiplayer mode. At that speed, games were almost certain to experience some lag and other issues, especially the newer, more powerful games. 

However, in 2021, the average broadband speed rose drastically to over 100 Mbps, which is more than enough to run the latest games, and even stream while doing so. Thanks to this drastic, and quite frankly impressive, improvement in internet infrastructure, the New Zealand gaming culture has grown, to become mainstream in the country. It has also led to higher visibility of New Zealand professional players in the circuit. 

Games Going Mainstream 

One of the major things that held professional gaming back for a long time, not just in New Zealand, but worldwide, was the fact that gaming culture was seen as a niche hobby, mainly targeted at children. It wasn’t until recently that many people saw the merits of video games as an art form, and as a hobby. Around the 2010s, video game culture first began to be embraced by the mainstream. 

Today, while video games still have a long way to go, many do respect the industry and it has gotten quite a lot of accolades from the general public. The popularization of video games has certainly played a huge role in the growing success of eSports, not just in New Zealand, but worldwide. However, New Zealand’s mainstream has also grown rather fond of video games. There have even been some popular games created by New Zealanders such as the cult classic free-to-play RPG, Path of Exile. 

Viewership is on the Rise

Finally, we would be remiss if we did not bring up the fact that there is a growing interest in eSports among the fans. Some of the major eSports tournaments have reported a general increase in viewership year to year. Not only that, but a lot of major tournaments have also looked towards New Zealand as a host country. 

A very notable example of this would be the League of Legends Oceanic Pro League, the finals of which took place in Wellington in 2017, and attracted an in-person crowd exceeding 4,000 people. As for the online viewership, the analysts concluded that there must have been over 100,000 online fans tuning in to see the best of the best League of Legends players compete for the title. 

But, these numbers refer only to the professionally organized and globally-known tournaments. New Zealand also has a vibrant culture of grassroots competitions, amateur gaming tournaments, and more, which has greatly enhanced the community’s engagement with video games, and affirmed the positive feelings that many have now developed towards gaming culture, and the gaming industry in general. With all of this in mind, we wouldn’t be surprised if eSports continued to grow in popularity in New Zealand.

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