Esports Life Tycoon review

Since I will never have the skill or talent to compete in an esports team and never run a team, I thought the next best option is to simulate it!

Esports Life Tycoon is an esports simulation game in which you run your team, decide on the players, sponsorship, how you prepare for a match and ensure your players have everything they need to succeed. On start-up you will get the chance to create your team name, logo and jersey which adds some personalisation to the team you are making. Adding a little bit of personality like this helps you care about the team you are creating, the players you are supporting and eventually the fans that will be cheering you on as you fight for glory. The tutorial shows you the only gameplay-loop you need to know straight away. First, you must set your players to research the next team you will be playing, with that research you can indicate just how much training you must do and how much you must focus on tactics before the next game.

The professional team you manage will compete in a Moba style game. Each player you have specialises in a role and can gain levels with each character within that role. Before each game, you have the option to simulate the game or micromanage the game. If you choose to simulate, it does just that. However, if you choose to micromanage, you can take part in the pick and ban phase, in which you ban certain characters and pick which ones your team will be playing.

During the match, the main thing you do is select where your team will be prioritising. Do you want to focus on the top towers? or the other two? Then you tell your team to do just that. Managing league games is where I enjoyed my time by selecting characters that my players were good at, training players on new characters and working around injuries. I could almost imagine each game playing out. Playing in a league is fun, but I would have loved to take part in tournaments. The absence of tournaments is noticeable. It would add a lot more value to league matches if you were preparing for a tournament.

Unfortunately, the game falls a little short. It relies on you following one gameplay loop that does not change. You research, then train and prep tactics. If you feel extra saucy, you can switch the order of prep and training (it does not matter). With your extra time, you can also have your team do a little promotional photoshoot that will result in more viewers and money at the end of a game. They try to break this cycle by having players become stressed, angry or injured. Sometimes, this happens close to a game, so you have no chance to buy a new player, or if you do have a substitute, you sub them in. There are random events within the game, but they are simple, select the right answer for a boost to a stat within the game. That’s it.