Baldur’s Gate 3 is not going to become an esport. It’s a turn based, story driven, co-op role play game. Not a single part of that sentence lends itself to a viable esport.
I see what you mean, Warlocke.
I spoke with a developer before on this same subject. They were also of the opinion that Turn Based games didn't lend themselves to esports. I still disagree. BGIII, if it were to be an esport, would be more like American Football, which has moments of activity followed by lulls in play, rather than football seen in Europe.
The breaks in play are where the commentary really comes in and keeps any audience engaged. A knowledgeable commentator can offer insight into what happened or explain what to look out for in the coming play. They might also be able to have a quick word with some of the team on the sidelines, even the manager or players.
Though the participants in multi-player BGIII will be co-operating to progress, they might not be co-operating unselfishly. (Perhaps people can remember the 4 player video game "Gauntlet", where the person playing the Elf would, to the chagrin and detriment of the others, just run and grab all the goodies for himself.) There might be some in-group competition in order to Level Up faster than the others. In the story, each player has their own agendum, and such play would be consistent with that. So, there could be competition seen to advance one agendum against the others. Larian wrote code to help resolve decisions when the group is split.
There is also out-group competition: the Party against the Monsters they encounter. Since the Monsters and environment are all story based, this is more like the sport of Mountaineering. Which face will they scale? How and when will they make their approach? If there is weather, how will they handle that? If you know your mountain (or know your Dungeon), it is enjoyable to see a different strategy used.
There is also competition between Parties. One Party might be able to accomplish a play-through in record time, or another with the most treasure or kills. Different Parties might attempt to rival each other in the same way teams challenge each other in cross-Atlantic sailing.
On top of all this, I hope that Larian will eventually open up the game into an open world system, perhaps in a subsequent release. Real players would inhabit the world and form Guilds, Clans, Watches, Gangs and these could compete against each other or form alliances. Dungeon Masters could try and rival each other with their Dungeons too, vying to create the most dangerous, popular or funny Dungeon.
BGIII doesn't look like an esports game, but I think it has that potential and that should be explored.
