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Esports in 2023

Esports (electronic sports) have been around for longer than most people think. Believe it or not, the first esports event took place all the way back in 1981, using the popular arcade game Space Invaders. However most competitions up until the late 2000s were amateur in nature, this all changed with the rise of social media and platforms such as YouTube and Twitch.

Nowadays, just like with physical sports, esports have garnered such a large enough following that people and players can make some really good money off the events. Check out the following esports guide for more information on that.

While the legitimacy of esports has still not caught on in some countries, others have fully embraced it, South Korea for example has the Korean e-Sports Association, which is an arm of its Ministry of Culture. A limited number of esports events are even featured in the Olympics.

While the Olympic esports are nothing too exciting — such as Chess, Tennis Clash, and Just Dance — there are many fast-paced genres available to spectate. Some of these big names include: Dota 2, League of Legends, StarCraft II, and Rocket League. Each of these titles has its own style and features either team-based competitions or 1v1 gameplay.

Every year several major events occur surrounding esports. To name a few: the Apex Legends Global Series, Valorant Champions Tour, Global Esports Games, and the Intel Extreme Masters event.

Many large companies (Intel, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Airbus) are involved in sponsoring these events, some even have teams of their own on the professional level. Training for esports players is actually not that different from any other sport. Learning skills like leadership, team cohesion, and motivation, as well as proper sleep hygiene and stretching, are all a big part of it. Esports competitors need to be in excellent health both physically and mentally in order to endure the intensely rapid and adaptive gameplay expected of them.

While it once was criticised and thought to never be able to become as big as “real sports”, esports is now a massive movement on the international stage. Steve Bornstein (former CEO of ESPN and the NFL network) was once quoted saying the following.

Esports will rival the biggest traditional sports leagues in terms of future opportunities.

As time goes forward it is likely the movement will grow even further, becoming more accepted in nations whose cultures have not fully embraced it yet.