Software as a catalyst for the esports industry development

Problem statemen. In the context of globalization and the digitalization of society, esports competitions have evolved into not only platforms for players and teams but also powerful economic drivers encompassing streaming, sponsorship, and game development. Software plays a pivotal role in shaping the esports industry by serving as the technical foundation for its functioning. The aim of the work is to determine the role of software as a catalyst for the esports industry development. Methodology. A comprehensive approach was used to assess the role of software in the establishment and growth of esports, including a classification method for identifying functional types of software, a systematic approach to viewing them as an interconnected system, a comparative analysis of software tool providers and popular esports platforms, and content analysis of modern technologies in the context of their functional purposes. The results and discussion. The technological features of modern graphics processing units (GPUs) used in the esports industry are highlighted, namely: the number of CUDA/Shader cores, instruction types, support for new technologies, memory bandwidth and ray tracing technologies, which together guarantee the processing and output of high-quality graphics. The article offers a classification of functional types of software that constitute a single system of interconnections. Among the specialised software, the research allocates platforms for tournament management (Toornament, Battlefy, Challonge, FACEIT), software for streaming and broadcasting (OBS Studio, Streamlabs, XSplit, Restream), software for managing teams and players (Discord, GameCoach), anti-fraud tools (Easy Anti-Cheat, BattleEye), virtual and augmented reality software (VirZOOM, Oculus tools for VR esports), as well as modern blockchain and NFT technologies. Conclusions. The study identifies the main differences in the software used in the esports industry. Prospects for implementing advanced developments are analyzed based on the activities of software providers (Betfoc, INORU, Betinvest, BR Softech, Vinfotech) and esports platforms (Battlefy, Toornament, Challonge, ESL Play, and Mobalytics). Accordingly, esports software continues to evolve alongside technological advancements and growing demands for game quality and interactivity, creating new opportunities for participants and viewers. Modern tools and programs must adapt to technological innovations and be integrated into the esports industry to meet these challenges.