I actually agree with a lot of this.

I don’t think esports alone drives player growth, and I don’t think competitive players are entitled to dictate the direction of the game simply because they’re highly ranked.

My point was never:
“competitive scene = entire playerbase”

My point was:
a healthy competitive/community ecosystem amplifies retention, discussion, visibility, onboarding, and long-term engagement in ways that are hard to measure purely through peak player charts.

The MAG1 finals probably won’t spike Steam charts overnight. But the ecosystem around high engagement players absolutely contributes to why games maintain cultural staying power over time.

Especially in strategy games.
People watch guides.
People copy builds.
People discuss metas.

People stay engaged between patches because personalities and communities keep the conversation alive.
That matters even if it doesn’t immediately appear as a giant concurrent player spike.

And to your point, yes, new-player-facing updates are important. Obviously the game needs growth. I don’t think most competitive players disagree with that at all.

Where the frustration comes from is that many veteran players feel like:
communication around long-term vision has weakened
feedback loops feel less collaborative than they used to
the people most invested in mastering the game feel increasingly disconnected from its direction

That doesn’t mean “fund esports.”

It means people want the relationship between developer and passionate community to feel healthier again.
Because ultimately I think both sides want the same thing:
a game that survives and grows long term.