Electronic sports, commonly referred to as esports, is a form of competition played using video games. The popularity of esports has blown up over the last 10 years, but what exactly is it?
Organised competitions are nothing new in the gaming space, with players having long been getting together to play against one another in a competitive setting. Since the late 2000s as online gaming became accessible, the esports phenomenon has grown considerably to the point that the industry was valued at $1.38 billion and is projected to rise to close to $2 billion by 2025.
That still doesn’t quite answer the question of what esports are and, to the untrained eye, it may just look like people playing video games. While that is technically correct, there is a lot more to it than that.
The Rise of Esports
Depending on your age, you will likely remember getting together with friends to play games such as Mario Kart, Mortal Kombat, and FIFA. The multiplayer aspects of games meant that they were the basis for many social gatherings.
Move forward several years and multiplayer games have become far more sophisticated to the point that players can become professional, earning considerable money for playing video games. Like traditional sports, esports involved human-to-human competition with an engaging spectator element to it.
It is also worth pointing out that esports don’t necessarily have to involve sports video games. While the likes of FIFA is a popular game in the esports sphere, so too are non-sports titles such as League of Legends and Call of Duty.
Common genres associated with esports include:
- Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)
- First-Person Shooter (FPS)
- Fighting
- Card
- Battle Royale
- Real-Time Strategy
Spectators
Streaming platforms, such as Twitch, have played a major role in the boom in popularity of esports, with millions of viewers tuning in to watch gamers play games. According to Statista, a total of 8.8 billion hours of live video game streaming was watched in just the first quarter of 2021.
One of the most popular streamers is Richard Tyler Blevins, more popularly known as ‘Ninja’, with 18.3 million followers on his Twitch channel. He is reported to have a net worth of $40 million, regularly earning between $500,000 and $1 million a month from subscribers to watch him play video games.
This demonstrates the incredible appetite there is to view live gaming and esports has benefitted off the back of this. There are numerous examples of esports events being held with live attendances in the thousands, as well as millions watching online.
Olympic Recognition
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has acknowledged esports as a sport in its own right and had 250,000 participants take part in the Olympic Virtual Series that was held before the Tokyo 2020 Games. While esports will not make up part of the 2024 Games, there is speculation that it could feature in 2028, especially after its inclusion in the Asian Games this year.
Birmingham hosted the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships on 6 and 7 August during the Commonwealth Games, though this was separate from the main Games. Should esports ever make it into the Olympics, it would be unlikely that they would feature recognisable platform games for various reasons, including licensing. The IOC has also stated that only sports simulation games would be included as part of the Olympic programme.
Football Clubs and Esports
Esports’ popularity has not gone unnoticed by some of the biggest football clubs in the world, with esports teams set up under club branding. Manchester City moved into the esports division, signing players to compete in the FIFA Esport Football League, while they also have a presence in non-sporting divisions, too.
Another football club that is well-known for its links to esports is non-league Hashtag United. The club, like most, is not named after a geographical location and presents itself as a football and esports club.
Formed in 2016, initially playing exhibition games, The Tags moved into non-league football in 2018 and, as of the 2022/23 season, play in the Isthmian League North Division – the eighth tier of English football. The club is noted for its substantial online presence and regularly streams matches on the club’s YouTube and Twitch pages to subscribers, similar to how gamers stream to their subscribers.
Here to Stay
Esports are here to stay and those that play must be considered athletes, challenging for trophies and prizes as any other sportsperson would. With professional clubs investing in esports and signs that gamers will soon be able to compete for Olympic gold, it is time to get on board with the phenomenon if you haven’t already.
