Most of us associate electronic sports (e-sports) with these modern times. This is why you might be surprised to learn that the first official competition occurred as far back as 1972. Known as the “Intergalactic SpaceWar Olympics”, this one-time event pitted 24 players against one another in an all-out battle to conquer the known universe. Talk about high stakes!
Of course, e-sports have enjoyed a growing popularity in the 21st century thanks to high-speed Internet as well as the rise of MMORPG platforms. Some competitions are even capable of attracting millions of fans and providing payouts similar to those associated with professional real-world events. Let’s look at three of the most-followed competitions to understand just how large the entire industry has become.
Counter-Strike: GO
This title is likely to be familiar with anyone who regularly follows the tactical shooter genre. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive involves five players who are labelled as terrorists and another team of five who must thwart their evil efforts. The collaborative nature of Counter-Strike is arguably one of its most popular qualities and considering that up to 30 rounds may be played before determining the winning team, CS:GO tournaments are certainly not for the faint of heart!
League of Legends
In terms of the MOBA (Mobile Online Battle Arena) industry, League of Legends is the biggest game in the lot. LoL is played within a real-time scenario and competitions can last anywhere between 15 minutes and one hour. The main intention is to lay siege to the opponent’s base and to eventually dominate the entire landscape (designed as a digital arena). League of Legends tournaments offered prize pools as high as $6.4 million dollars in the past, so this e-sport will definitely provide a sense of real-world motivation.
League of Legends has that amount of success thanks to the outstanding job the developers of the game and the esports scene are doing to improve the game and make the competition even more thrilling for the players and the fans. Spincasino is doing the same with their blackjack games, trying to optimize the experience for the users and developing new features from the users’ feedback.
DOTA 2
DOTA is an acronym for “Defense of the Ancients” and similar to LoL, it centers around team-based gameplay. DOTA 2 tournaments consist of two teams of five players. Once again, the primary goal is to overrun the base of the opponent. The main difference between DOTA 2 and League of Legends involves its decidedly tactical nature. Furthermore, a wide selection of characters will enable players to create teams with highly specific skill sets. In other words, DOTA 2 can be considered just as much of a turn-based strategy RPG as a classic PvP combat platform.
The e-sports industry has experienced an exponential amount of growth over the past ten years and this forward momentum should only increase. Might we witness the rise of an e-sports “Olympics” in the near future? While only time will tell, this genre is certainly on the rise.
