"The idea that anything is killing eSports is nuts, eSports is growing out of control" - Dustin Browder
eSports, has been around for a while but it hasn't really been able to have the reach it is able to achieve now. eSports is a term to define the organization and conducting of video game tournaments. Well, it does sound like a dream job for many teenagers, and the sport generally consists of most young players, but the scene itself is being run by veteran players who have been here for more than a decade, and there are also a health set of older player in the scene to provide guidance of the younger players.
Some of you must be thinking, "this is nuts, kids playing video games 'competitively'? what a joke! ". These tournaments are not just done for fun, many of these tournaments involve real money, and a lot of it. In fact, recently Valve Hosted a Dota 2 Tournament, called 'The International' with a prize pool of over 2.6 million dollars. Getting serious now? Read on.
The real eSports scene started way back in around the years 2000/2001, or even before that, you can't really put a date on. Back in the day, the eSports scene was quite a closed society, and also back then we never had the amount of coverage the scene has now, or even the amount of sponsors which are rolling in now. It was a time when dial-up was the bomb, and 128k was considered "high-speed". Video streaming was not too common (what did you expect with a 56k connection), and most of the time people who enjoyed the scene were the players themselves, or the few dedicated fans.
Starcraft is a famous success story which most people may know about, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. Starcraft is a RTS game developed by Blizzard, before they were bought by Activison. It was a game which was understandable to the average Joe, but required years of practice to prefect. There was a distinct difference in skill between a person who played that game for a couple of weeks and a person who had played it for a year. The fact that people were able to comprehend that difference made more casual gamers involved in it, and even those who don't play video games at all. More interesting is that fact there is no really simple algorithm or steps to win a game. Each player has his own play style, and each player has his own way of winning.
This perfect blend of scale, freedom and simplicity to understand gave Starcraft a platform that that most of its fellow RTS games never got, its own TV Channel. Starcraft became so famous in South Korea that it had launched 3 dedicated TV Channels which showcased matches 24 hours a day, and had full in-game commentary. It is said that South Korean Starcraft players are media celebrities, and the successful ones are earning more than $100,000 a year. These stats are from back in 2005.
So what has changed? The internet. During the past couple of years there have been new ways for organizers to reach people, and provide entertaining content to spectators. Now-a-days it is possible for someone to create a video stream with a decently configured PC. With a Microphone plugged in and software like X-split, it was possible to commentate and use overlays to make the whole viewer experience more professional, all for the price of a decent PC with a mic. Video streaming providers such as Twitch.tv provide video streaming services for free. Where users are able to attach a paypal account and also accept donations from users. It became the perfect set-up for eSports organizers.
However, the scene is not complete without actual players. Like any sport, there are the top few who defy the laws of logic and reason. People watch matches to see their talent individuals. In the early years of eSporst, these people were famous, but it would take years of meeting the right people at the right time for these players to get their big break, and most of these time it did not happen. Professional players get paid well for gaming competitively and they have strict training schedules. They are sponsored by big companies, (Razer, Alienware, SteelSeries, Kaspersky), and they get paid based on their performance, and it is only a lucky few who are able to reach this kind of position. Amateur players mostly working through the low ranks with their won money, and often are students or employees, trying to balance their dream and their life. It's all about meeting the right people at the right time. Organizers need material to judge how talented you are as a player, and nothing can really speak for itself than your performance in tournaments. Providing actual gameplay footage is the best way to showcase yourself. It shows the players skill in game, and provide a gauge for evaluation.
Today, amateur players are able to showcase themselves in many ways on the internet. Since, almost every tournament today has a live-stream, it is easy for players to get footage in a tournament situation and show it to organizations, even if the tournament was a small one, it would still have a live-stream. So players who are extremely talented are able to simply showcase their past tournament performance with ease and are able to make themselves more prominent in the scene. Thus, creating more opportunity and giving more possibility of reaching the top.
eSports is just coming into the lime light. With organization like MLG, ESL, DreamHack, joinDota, BeyondTheSummit, EG, LGD, Fnatic its not hard to see that this scene is going to grow rapidly in the next few years. The only questions is by how much?
More games are getting recognition, more gamers are turning pro, and more pros are becoming Legends. These are exciting times for us video game spectators, we are able to enjoy the drama of the game all from the comfort of our computers. More people are beginning to watch streams and more money is being pumped into the scene. Its a time where brilliance is showcased and opportunity is available. Where talent is explored, and limits are reached, where walls broken and dreams realized. Today the internet is the Colosseum, and we are the people of Rome, watching our favorite gladiators becoming Gods.
Some of you must be thinking, "this is nuts, kids playing video games 'competitively'? what a joke! ". These tournaments are not just done for fun, many of these tournaments involve real money, and a lot of it. In fact, recently Valve Hosted a Dota 2 Tournament, called 'The International' with a prize pool of over 2.6 million dollars. Getting serious now? Read on.
The real eSports scene started way back in around the years 2000/2001, or even before that, you can't really put a date on. Back in the day, the eSports scene was quite a closed society, and also back then we never had the amount of coverage the scene has now, or even the amount of sponsors which are rolling in now. It was a time when dial-up was the bomb, and 128k was considered "high-speed". Video streaming was not too common (what did you expect with a 56k connection), and most of the time people who enjoyed the scene were the players themselves, or the few dedicated fans.
Starcraft is a famous success story which most people may know about, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. Starcraft is a RTS game developed by Blizzard, before they were bought by Activison. It was a game which was understandable to the average Joe, but required years of practice to prefect. There was a distinct difference in skill between a person who played that game for a couple of weeks and a person who had played it for a year. The fact that people were able to comprehend that difference made more casual gamers involved in it, and even those who don't play video games at all. More interesting is that fact there is no really simple algorithm or steps to win a game. Each player has his own play style, and each player has his own way of winning.
This perfect blend of scale, freedom and simplicity to understand gave Starcraft a platform that that most of its fellow RTS games never got, its own TV Channel. Starcraft became so famous in South Korea that it had launched 3 dedicated TV Channels which showcased matches 24 hours a day, and had full in-game commentary. It is said that South Korean Starcraft players are media celebrities, and the successful ones are earning more than $100,000 a year. These stats are from back in 2005.
So what has changed? The internet. During the past couple of years there have been new ways for organizers to reach people, and provide entertaining content to spectators. Now-a-days it is possible for someone to create a video stream with a decently configured PC. With a Microphone plugged in and software like X-split, it was possible to commentate and use overlays to make the whole viewer experience more professional, all for the price of a decent PC with a mic. Video streaming providers such as Twitch.tv provide video streaming services for free. Where users are able to attach a paypal account and also accept donations from users. It became the perfect set-up for eSports organizers.
However, the scene is not complete without actual players. Like any sport, there are the top few who defy the laws of logic and reason. People watch matches to see their talent individuals. In the early years of eSporst, these people were famous, but it would take years of meeting the right people at the right time for these players to get their big break, and most of these time it did not happen. Professional players get paid well for gaming competitively and they have strict training schedules. They are sponsored by big companies, (Razer, Alienware, SteelSeries, Kaspersky), and they get paid based on their performance, and it is only a lucky few who are able to reach this kind of position. Amateur players mostly working through the low ranks with their won money, and often are students or employees, trying to balance their dream and their life. It's all about meeting the right people at the right time. Organizers need material to judge how talented you are as a player, and nothing can really speak for itself than your performance in tournaments. Providing actual gameplay footage is the best way to showcase yourself. It shows the players skill in game, and provide a gauge for evaluation.
Today, amateur players are able to showcase themselves in many ways on the internet. Since, almost every tournament today has a live-stream, it is easy for players to get footage in a tournament situation and show it to organizations, even if the tournament was a small one, it would still have a live-stream. So players who are extremely talented are able to simply showcase their past tournament performance with ease and are able to make themselves more prominent in the scene. Thus, creating more opportunity and giving more possibility of reaching the top.
eSports is just coming into the lime light. With organization like MLG, ESL, DreamHack, joinDota, BeyondTheSummit, EG, LGD, Fnatic its not hard to see that this scene is going to grow rapidly in the next few years. The only questions is by how much?
More games are getting recognition, more gamers are turning pro, and more pros are becoming Legends. These are exciting times for us video game spectators, we are able to enjoy the drama of the game all from the comfort of our computers. More people are beginning to watch streams and more money is being pumped into the scene. Its a time where brilliance is showcased and opportunity is available. Where talent is explored, and limits are reached, where walls broken and dreams realized. Today the internet is the Colosseum, and we are the people of Rome, watching our favorite gladiators becoming Gods.
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