Tag: Milan

Overview

Esports have been a big deal for quite a while. It’s a massive industry estimated to be worth somewhere in the ballpark of 1.8 billion USD by 2022. It’s attracting the largest audience on the planet, already over 600 million people. Forbes reports that esport pro athletes have been growing more than 40% annually every year since 1998. The LA Times says eight million people log on every day to take part. And yet, for some of us, it still feels somewhat foreign, an underground culture even.

With the public health crisis in full swing, we’ve already seen athletes and celebrities hunkered in their living rooms with controllers in hand (Charles Leclerc anyone?), engaging in video games like Assetto Corsa Competizione, NBA 2K20, and of course, FIFA / PES. Those are video games mostly played recreationally, although when the stakes rise and pros and money get involved, they essentially become esports. It’s a galaxy comprised of international tournaments and sponsored teams competing in well-established tournaments like those arranged by the developers/publishers of LOL, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Earlier this year, the Italian football league Serie A TIM have launched their first esports competition – called eSerie A – with the top qualified players having the opportunity to be picked by the top-flight clubs. The new competition, set up in association with sports marketing company Infront, will see players from 20 Italian clubs compete for the inaugural title. Infront will organize the competition along with Italian esports company, PG Esport as well as 15 days’ worth of broadcast production of all events and matches.

Concept

We started by asking ourselves: “Who said that an eSports Jersey has to be 100% identical to the kit used by the main team?”. We should be more daring and try out something different. Next up, we brainstormed about the key elements that compose a videogame. If you think of videogames one of the first thing that comes to your mind are pixels. Especially among those who started playing games in the 1980-1990s.

Inspired by pixel art from old-school videogames, in this AC Milan eSports Jersey Concept for 2021 the essence of the team is represented by the iconic color code: red and black stripes. Only this time the stripes are less “crisp” and defined, just like what you would expect from a videogame of 30 years ago. The same goes for the technical sponsor logo (Puma) and for the crest, which are both pixelated. To infuse an eSports vibe to our design, we’ve accentuated the predominance of white color, which normally appears only in the away kit. Finally, the edges in between the top and the bottom of the jersey hide a homage to Milan famous cathedral, or Duomo di Milano.