We are always mesmerized by video games. One of the main aspects of the video game is the notion of competitiveness whereby a player competes with each other to determine a loser or winner. In this article, we will be focusing on esports, which is usually a type of video game played online with a little twist of professionalism.
Esports tournaments
In 1972, the first event of esports was launched at Stanford University where the student competed in the video game. They have a designated prize of a year subscription to Rolling Stone magazine. However, this is not the type of esports we know today. The first competition took place in 1980 with a huge presence of 10,000 participants. This event was held by Space invaders and got widespread media attention as it was a household name then.
Modern esports
With the coming of Internet facilities in the 1990s, there is a huge change in esports strategies. The Internet did the same thing for online gaming as it did for messaging. They connect gamers to the web so that they can now compete with each other online. With the arrival of Internet connectivity, there is an increase in the popularity of PC gaming, and companies such as Blockbuster began to sponsor video games in World Championships around the world.
In 1997 the Red Annihilation tournament was famous for quick games which attracted more than 2000 participants to their platform. It was regarded as the first esports event ever held in the history of esports. The winner has a Ferrari grand prize.
After a few weeks, a leading E game league Cyberathlete Professional League was formed and held a tournament. Later that year, many new tournaments and leagues were added. The increase in the number of leagues to the number of prize money also reaches $15,000 each year.
Another amazing game that came out in 1998 is StarCraft. This is very different from the earlier esports as it needed strategic thinking and execution rather than muscle power and reflexes.
At the end of the year, there were many major international tournaments such as the Electronic Sports World Cup and World Cyber Games that followed the Major League gaming in 2002. This is one of the largest esports Leagues till today at a generous price. Next comes the famous defense game that is Dota, which has become the new beginning for mobile genera.
2017
In 2017 the total prize money awarded in esports gaming reached up to $110.5 million from about 37,000 tune events. A single tournament prize pool is counted as $24.6 million.
Esports history has come a long way and will continue to grow more and more shortly. Just as more and more people are coming to the stadium to watch live matches of athletics competing for the highest rank, cover esports also developed in the same way as the demand for esports is growing. Perhaps there are many advantages and disadvantages in esports but still, people enjoy and use these esports sites as a way of entertaining themselves and coping up with boredom.