RIse of E-sports

22:52:00 0 Comments



Traditional sports fans have, on average, looked down their noses at eSports, but whether you like it or not, eSports are here to stay. The rise in popularity in recent years is nothing short of phenomenal and chances are, if you don’t like them, you may just not have tried them.

Today names such as Lebron James, Tom Brady, Cristiano Ronaldo, Derek Jeter etc. are household. Have you ever heard of Soeren Bjerg, Danylo Ishutin, Christopher Alesund, or even Tom Taylor? If you are not an avid watcher of the online gaming scene these names probably mean nothing to you. However, I interest you in understanding the rise of the eSport scene and what the future will hold for gaming.
Nearly one and a half decades ago a man by the name of Sundance DiGiovanni started a gaming division known as Major League Gaming or MLG. With "Halo 2" being its main game, it invested itself in gathering the most highly skilled console Halo players from around the world to compete on one stage. Over the years they have developed quite a large fan base and introduced several different games where competitors and viewers alike can thrive. Games such as "Call of Duty," "Tekken," "Super Smash Bros," "Gears of War," etc. were introduced to MLG in 2004 and it was all uphill from here. Tournaments across the US were being taken place from Raleigh, North Carolina to Las Vegas, Nevada. These tournaments saw tremendous success and viewers were extremely satisfied of where the gaming scene was.

"League of Legends," "Counter Strike," "Heroes of the Storm," "StarCraft," "DotA 2," and many other games is where the most amount of viewership comes from today. Streaming platforms such as Youtube, Twitch, and Azubu have made countless steps toward drawing out fans of every age in the last five or so odd years. When RiotGames, creators of the popular MMO(Massive Multiplayer Online) "League of Legends," helped sponsor competitions and leagues in every continent, a massive viewer base was born. From Korea to China and Europe to America, teams are created and battle it out during a Spring and Summer split. The best teams then travel for a chance at the League World Championship where prizes include an enormous trophy, nearly $1 Million and bragging rights to the best team in the world. Drawing thousands to each competition alongside the hundreds of thousands of viewers online, the League of Legends community continues to grow every year and will only get larger from here.

Overall the eSport scene has seen an increase in nearly every category from viewership to technology. Just like sports on TV, eSports is now introducing a fantasy aspect where friends can invite each other to a league and draft their fantasy roster where a point system calculates a players worth. Coaches and analysts are now being hired for professional teams because the competitiveness is always rising and sometimes the player cannot rely on his/her own instinct and needs criticism or encouragement to achieve victory. In my eyes the eSports scene is the fastest growing sport industry in the world. Within the next five to ten years I guarantee there will be a TV channel or channels dedicated strictly to gaming. Commentators, statisticians, players, and fans will all come together to create entertaining content for any audience. From the very beginning it has always been about the viewer and creating the best quality for watching eSports. The mission statement from MLG is a perfect way to sum up what each competition is striving for today. "To promote eSports globally through premier competition and to deliver premium gaming content to viewers anytime."

0 comments:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)