Week 9 [05.12 - 11.12] eSports – is video gaming real future of sport?

The history of video game competitions began in the early 70s at Stanford University with Spacewar game.  Throughout the years nothing has changed in this matter. People gather, watch competitors and have fun. But what is eSport? Basically speaking, it  is a form of multiplayer video game competitions between professional players. The most common genres associated with eSports scene are fist-person shooters, MOBAs, real time strategies and sports simulators. Older people tend to wonder what is so interesting in watching a bunch of guys playing games but it doesn’t differ at all from admiring competing athletes on TV. South Korea has founded several organizations similar to the well-known FIFA or NFL, gathering licensed pro gamers  called cyberathletes.

1981 - Space Inavder Championships

I’ve recently compared pro gamers to athletes and let me explain you why. They act like regular sportsmen. They train every day to be  better. They are on their salaries. Yes, they are paid regularly. They must follow conducts of good sportsmanship and ethics. They have the ups and downs. Some of them quit the job to come back stronger. There are no differences between them and real sportsmen. They even have similar “problems”. There are many reports of widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs. Players often use stimulants to improve reaction time and prevent fatigue. Some of them take drugs used to treat Parkinson’s disease because it enhances mood and motivation. Valium is also “beloved” by some of players because it lets them stay calm under pressure (blocks adrenaline rush). But unlike Olympic athletes, who often have to foot their own bill as they bounce from a qualifier to another qualifier, most professional eSports players have their travel, accommodation, entry fees, and hardware costs covered by their teams or sponsors.

Comentators also appear at eSports events

               

          Let’s talk about money. In 2013 almost 72 million people watched video games competitions. This generates an enormous revenue. The global eSports  market in 2015 generated 325$ million and it’s expected to make almost 500$ mil. in 2016. Publishers are contributing to prize pools believing that investing in eSports will lead to a larger future rate of interest. Pool prizes often reach much more than 1$ mil.  per event. The biggest one was at The International 2016 in Dota 2 which hit 20,700,640$! That’s unbelievable amount of cash. Like in real life athletes, the biggest and most entertaining gaming teams also attract lucrative sponsorship deals with the most popular producers of PC peripherals or even food(e.g. Doritos, Mountain Dew, Monster). Teams also have their own clothing and accessory lines and can make celebrities out of their most successful and charismatic signees—or trade them away at will. 


Have you ever experienced professional/semi-pro eSports? What's your opinion about cyber competitons?