Enhancing the Value Proposition of Live Esports Consumption with AI Technology

Sammanfattning: When a company includes a new technology or innovation into their value proposition, customers may perceive it as an enhancement or deterioration. This phenomenon was explored in this study with a case study of a present case in the esports industry. Research have shown that AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology can be used to predict which team is going to win in a match in the esports game DotA 2. A prototype AI called Znipe Sense was developed and analyzed during this study to answer the question: How can a predictive AI affect the value proposition of live esports consumption? Znipe Sense was included into Znipe Esports’ value proposition during a tournament in February 2018. It was observed that Znipe Sense could predict outcomes of professional matches with a higher accuracy than human experts. The observations of Znipe Sense, an interview with experienced players, interviews with business professionals and internal company documents were used as empirical material for the analysis. How Znipe Sense affected the value proposition was analyzed through the factors: Performance, Ease-of-use, Reliability, Flexibility and Affectivity, also known as the PERFA framework. It was concluded that a predictive AI can enhance the value proposition of live esports consumption through the Performance and Ease-of-use factors, and it would not affect the value proposition through Reliability or Flexibility. However, in the analysis of the Affectivity factor it was identified that there is a risk related to negative effects of gambling addiction that could deteriorate the value proposition.