How esports can help cities engage residents and build community

According to a recent survey, 71 percent of respondents cited civic engagement as a top priority for smart cities. Traditionally, measuring this type of engagement has meant looking at the ways people connect in the real world. At least until COVID-19 upended the definition of what it means to be connected. As a result, many municipalities are rethinking what it means for citizens to live, work and engage with each other.

To do this effectively, cities must know what their residents actually want—and that requires data. This is why organizations like the Knight Foundation are investing in public data projects that help citizens learn more about their cities and, in turn, provide more information for cities to collect and put to use.

But not all data is created equal. Third-party data—data collected by outside sources—is useful in some contexts, but it lacks both the control cities need and the transparency citizens want when it comes to how that data is used.

Ideally, municipalities should collect first-party data for themselves that could be analyzed and used in ways that improve the lives of their citizens. But how would they? There aren’t many avenues government agencies can take that offer real insight into their residents beyond some basic contact information.

Thankfully, there’s an answer. And it’s likely one many cities have never considered—video games.

Don’t sleep on the positive impact of video games
The past year has given people a new sense of what it means to be part of a community, and now is the perfect time for cities to help people strengthen those connections through increased engagement opportunities. While it might seem surprising to anyone who isn’t part of the video game community, there are plenty of benefits of gaming that align perfectly with what most cities would define as positive citizen engagement.

Online gaming—especially in the form of recreational esports—is a hugely social activity that encourages character building, teamwork and communication. It also connects people who might not be inclined or able to reach out through traditional city programming, which can do wonders to improve civic engagement.

By hosting recreational esports leagues, cities can gather data generated by these activities and use it to inform and improve city programming. That data can then be put to work in several useful ways.

Engaging untapped demographics
Not everyone is able or willing to participate in traditional community programming. This doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that they have no desire to connect with others or become more active members of their community; they just need a way to do it on their terms.

This is especially true for an often hard-to-reach demographic: teens. Getting young people involved in their local community is notoriously difficult. However, 90 percent of kids between the ages of 12 and 17 play video games. Esports leagues and other virtual programming offer ways for municipalities to drive citizen engagement in teens and other digital natives who might not embrace in-person programming.

Getting people in the door is just part of the power of programs like these. Data analytics in gaming can be used to create and establish new communities within a city and then customize online and in-person programming to better reflect what these communities want. This gives community members who might have previously gone unnoticed a direct voice and a brand-new ability to connect, compete and gather with other like-minded individuals in their city.

Informing more robust digital experiences
Recreational esports leagues offer a path forward for developing a connected community engagement program that meets the needs of modern citizens. They help municipal leaders develop healthy digital communities and gather useful feedback about what works and what doesn’t. This feedback doesn’t just come from direct user reports—it comes from the behavioral data that can be collected while people are playing video games.

Brands are already using behavioral data to reach customers, and there’s no reason municipalities can’t do the same. Understanding the ways people interact, which leagues have sustained engagement, and what kinds of games are most popular are all valuable data points that can help leaders create an environment that best suits their digital and in-person communities.

Strengthening the offline community
One of the great things about creating an active digital community is that the data it produces can also strengthen the offline community. For instance, parks and recreation departments could look at who regularly plays sports games, such as “Madden NFL” or “NBA 2K,” and turn that information into an invitation to join the local leagues. If certain online events prove popular, those could become rec center mixers to help people get to know each other in the real world.

There are plenty of other ways cities can learn more about their constituents through online gaming communities. Livestreamed gaming events with local politicians or community leaders can provide an informal space to hear feedback from constituents and get a better idea of where people stand on contentious issues.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization teamed up with big names in the video game industry on #PlayApartTogether, a campaign that encouraged social distancing through digital gameplay. Initiatives like this illustrate how gaming and data can be merged in marketing campaigns for a variety of organizations.

As smart cities continue to develop across the country, they need good data to make true improvement and intelligence possible. Recreational esports offers an opportunity to enter the homes of a huge variety of people, giving cities a new way to collect demographic and behavioral data that can be used to strengthen civic engagement.

Millions of people are already gaming all over the world. All cities need to do is tap into this vibrant and thriving community.

Austin Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Mission Control.