Esports: The Complete Guide

Esports has revolutionized the way people follow, watch, and engage with video games. An essential component of the video game industry, esports are promoted by some of the best-known video game companies and backed by global brands. They’re held in world-class arenas and followed by millions.    

If you’re considering becoming involved in the world of esports, then this guide provides you with all the information that you need to know.

What are esports?

Competitive gaming or the esports game refers to tournaments, leagues, or similar competitions where contestants, whether individuals or teams, play video games for spectators or prize money.  

When we talk about sports, the image of stadiums packed with spectators cheering their favorite stars comes to mind. But esports is a bit different from regular sports. 

Esports can be played at an amateur or professional level, at local or international events, at a studio, in person at a venue, or online from home. In fact, anywhere that there’s an internet connection.

Esports are not a single event. Just like regular athletes compete in different tournaments, video game players do the same; from the League of Legends European Championship, the Overwatch League, through to the Rainbow Six Spain Nationals, there is a huge range of amateur and professional tournaments held across the globe.    

Essential Components Of The Esports Sector

Several people work together to bring about esports competitions. These include:

Publishers

Companies that finance the manufacture, development, and marketing of video games and are responsible for launching them into the market through their arrangements with retailers, distributors, and platforms are known as publishers. They are also the owners of industrial and intellectual property rights to video games.

Tournament Organizers

Tournament organizers are responsible for designing and producing amateur and professional video game competitions. These tournaments are held along the guidelines set by the publishers for each video game. 

It is also essential for tournament organizers to have a contract, relevant authorizations, or licenses from the publisher before organizing or broadcasting every competition.

Amateur and Professional Players

There are both professional and amateur players in esports. Teams hire high-paid professionals to participate in world stage leagues and tournaments, while amateur players can play at any level, from local events through to international competitions.

Teams

Companies hire esport teams to take part in competitions on their behalf. Most of these teams do not like to be tied to a single league or game and like to compete for different titles. 

Audience

If you think that esports is not a big thing, you have not been paying close attention to the changing trends. It is estimated that almost 100 million fans tuned into the League of Legends World Championship series last year. 

Interestingly, this tournament was not aired on a television network but hosted online on the Amazon-owned live-streaming service Twitch.

Also, there are many fans of esports who frequently travel domestically and internationally to watch these games live.

Competitive Disciplines In Esports

There are basically two gaming formats in esports – team-based games and contests between two players. One of the most popular examples of a video game that involves competition between two players is StarCraft, which is a sci-fi building game. In this game, players fight each other for tactical points, resources, and victory. 

Due to the increasing popularity of esports, even traditional sports organizations are getting involved. For instance, the ePremier League holds tournaments in e-soccer which feature players from real-life soccer teams.    

Team-based games are played in virtual arenas. They are backed by big esports groups and organizations such as Cloud 9 Esports, Fnatic, and G2 Esports. Shooter-style games designed with a pseudo-military touch like Call of Duty, Valorant, Overwatch, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are incredibly popular. Esport teams also compete in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games or MOBAs like League of Legends, DOTA 2, and Heroes of the Storm.

It has become easy for spectators to watch major championships in real-time. These tournaments are streamed live on major platforms like Facebook Gaming, Twitch, and YouTube, and the prize money for these championships is now in the seven-figure range. 

Today, having digital skills is as important as numeracy and literacy. Playing video games enables players to explore fascinating imaginary worlds and tackle intellectual challenges like devising plans and strategies while processing the information provided. As a result, players not only enjoy the gaming elements but also develop digital skills and competencies.

Esports are also recognized as ‘real’ sports in educational institutions. Students who played video games regularly displayed an outstanding improvement in key skills such as problem-solving, spatiotemporal, and analytical skills. In addition, teachers noticed an increase in attention, initiative, creativity, communication, and collaboration in such students.

Conclusion

Thanks to the internet and new advancements made in the field of video games, the rapid growth of esports has become quite unstoppable. 

There is finally a wider acceptance of virtual sports. What was once a small community has now become an industry worth billions. Gamers, who were previously called nerds, have now become superstars in a multi-billion dollar industry. 

According to experts, the number of esports viewers is estimated to rise up to 300 million by 2023. It is going to be fascinating to see where this journey will lead!