The World of eSports is Thriving and Here to Stay

Years ago, even thinking about placing a bet on eSports tournaments might have been laughable, but these days, with the amount of eSports viewers and revenue generating continually increasing every single year, it’s not that out of the question now.  According to Newzoo, the audience grew to 226 million people in 2016, not to mention the revenue generated went from $325 million in 2015, to $493 in 2016, so we can continue to expect that trend to continue to rise every year.  While it may still be a virtually undiscovered world for some, to others it’s just a way of life.

Who is Taking Part?

Whether or not it is considered a “sport” is debatable, but competitions within the gaming world was largely made up by amateurs up until the last decade, where now professional gamers, not to mention viewership, has continued to surge.  Viewership has widely been a mostly male audience, typically between the ages of 18-34, but that doesn’t mean you have to be, in fact there is hope that the female gaming population will continue to increase.  With competitions and viewership being worldwide, the audience possibilities are endless, where everyone can be involved.

Games Played

Strategy, fighting, first-person shooting are popular multi-player formats for competitions within gamers, with the online battle games such as League of Legends being some of the most successful.  Fighting and first-person shooting games were some of the first to be included, these days, while still popular, it seems like most of the tournaments do follow the online battle arena formats, with Counter-Strike and Call of Duty being some of the most well-known.  While online gaming is the most popular way to connect with users, developers have also added a spectator mode as well to be able to see the action going on in the game.

Tournaments

Believe it or not, most of the eSports tournaments are actually live, in-person events, where there are referees to monitor for any cheating taking place.  As the years and popularity have increased, there is now corporate sponsorship of energy drinks or computer software, being able to bring viewership to an even larger audience with an even bigger production.  When it comes to prize money, since these are huge events, the winning pot could be in the millions of dollars a year, making those professional gamers really something to play for as they continue to enter competitions.

Broadcasting

The availability of online streaming on platforms such as Twitch has been key in the growth factor when it comes to online gaming.  When it comes to coverage, it’s no surprise that the internet is the primary source, with websites dedicated to cover the up to minute news in the gaming world.  I have actually even seen tournaments on cable television, so there really is no denying the fact that the online gaming world is a huge entity and worth taking notice if you are interested in this coverage, while others may just want to stick to being a casual gamer.