Hand Warmers For Gaming

As an avid rock climber, I was absolutely stunned when I went to a buddy from the gym's house only to find a myriad of other climbers sitting around watching videos of the latest League of Legends tournament. My friends who invest a ton of time in climbing and being outdoors also indulged in what some would consider the laziest sport in the world, gaming.  As a marketer, I was absolutely blown away at the rise and incredible success of Esports. I too once considered myself a gamer- but a closet gamer. In my highschool days, I was an athlete on campus until I went home to meet my friends on WoW for a good ol' raid. Now, I like to occasionally binge-eat Captain Crunch while playing FIFA. "We go through phases as we grow," they say. 

   This side of gaming, however, isn't for the "recreational user". I talked to an awesome guy named Kyle Laffey today (owner of XMOTA) who told me that gaming is now as big as the NBA. I looked at my colleague who was on the call with me and gave him a smurk. That's impossible. Or is it? " The World Finals for league of Legends filled up Staples Center", he continued. Then I looked it up online and found the picture below... 

eSports is now at a professional level, and it has been for years. It's all divided up by genres so there's something for everyone. If you're into first-person shooters, check out Counter Strike. Whether it's fighting games, MOBA's or strategy, the professional gaming world has it all. With Prize Pools of up to 20,770,640.00 USD (yes, you read that correctly), these dudes are willing to do whatever it takes to be the best. Being in front of a screen for so long is straining on the eyes so they'll go out and buy computer-specific eyewear. They'll be a mouse that's specific to gaming, sometimes even specific to the game they like to play most. Every serious gamer owns a headset, if not several- it's become one of the most important gaming accessories. And now, gamers are going as far as enhancing or even nurturing their physical well-being. 

As soon as I got off the call with Kyle I retreated to my office desk and began searching. What I found was insane:

The above is a brief analysis of the monthly keyword searches surrounding eSports and gaming. What it doesn't depict, is the amount of growth that stands behind each keyword. We're dealing with an industry that grows its audience by 21 percent each year. In 2012, 58 million people were eSports enthusiasts. In 2013, that number grew to 74 million. In 2014, it was 89 million... and the growth continues. More people watched the League of Legends World Finals than they did the NBA Finals (27M vs. 15.5M). 

With an audience like that, there's money that supports it. Which brings me back to the topic of preventative care, and performance enhancers- hand warmers. After I did my nerd search on numbers, I moved onto content. I found so many videos of gaming sessions that pictured hand warmers in the background. And after doing a little more reading on Reddit I found that gamers were using hand warmers for added dexterity. They warm their hands up before tournaments so that their tendons can take the quantity of movements their digits are about to make. I don't know about you guys, but when I used to play Super Smash as a kid, I would just tap on ANY button. Because any of the three buttons, was a guarantee that I would do something really gnarly to my opponent. But this is 2016 folks, and those moves are precise. So we've created a relaxed piece on using hand warmers in combination with finger stretches and we hope it helps you. 

I'll end on this note. Moms (especially you hippie outdoor moms), if your kid wants to be a pro egamer, you tell him, "Absolutely!" Because he will sponsor your mortgage, your car payments, and your overall retirement with the amount of money he's going to make. Cheers, 2016!

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