Can an AI coach help your esports team clinch the championship?

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(Image credit: Epic Games)

Athletes gathering with coaches to go over their performance and plan the next game is a time-honored tradition. But the next generation of esports stars may rely on coaches with better wi-fi than whistles.

Esports platform PlayVS and AI-powered game analytics provider Omnic.AI are teaming up on a double-play to help young gamers improve at a range of competitive video games, focusing on high school students in scholastic esports leagues.

AI analytics is becoming a popular tool for gamers to review their performance and identify areas for improvement. Omnic.AI's Omnic Forge platform leverages AI to break down how players perform when playing games like Valorant, Fortnite, Rocket League, and Overwatch 2, with Madden and other titles in the works. Players upload their gameplay footage to Omnic Forge to get analyzed and work out their strengths and weaknesses in detail far faster and cheaper than hiring a human esports coach.

Coach AI

The deal with PlayVS extends Omnic Forge's tools to its user base of young gamers. High school students who use PlayVS get free access to Omnic Forge’s features. It's a way for players in scholastic esports leagues to hear professional insight without exorbitant costs.

Free users get five uploads and two insights per game, though you can pay for unlimited and deeper access to the AI analysis. The platform also allows players to compare their skills with professional gamers who share similar play styles, allowing them to learn from the best players.

The deal shows how AI isn't just changing how games are made but how they are played and even how they are embedded into education and education-adjacent programs. As esports grows in popularity, students of all stripes will likely be eager to use AI analytics to up their game and perhaps even improve their chances to go pro. Or at least strategize other parts of their lives.

Advanced analysis can build skills for specific games and esports in general. Omnic even claims that AI coaching can raise critical thinking, communication, and other skills that translate to the real world.

"Teaming up with Omnic.AI represents a significant leap forward in how we support and develop young gamers," PlayVS CEO Jon Chapman said. "Their innovative technology will help our community refine their skills and stand out among other gamers, empowering them to continue to refine their craft and reach new heights in and out of the world of esports."

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Eric Hal Schwartz is a freelance writer for TechRadar with more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of the world and technology. For the last five years, he served as head writer for Voicebot.ai and was on the leading edge of reporting on generative AI and large language models. He's since become an expert on the products of generative AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, and every other synthetic media tool. His experience runs the gamut of media, including print, digital, broadcast, and live events. Now, he's continuing to tell the stories people want and need to hear about the rapidly evolving AI space and its impact on their lives. Eric is based in New York City.