This is the first of our blog where we would like to tell the world why we are doing what we are doing!

What is Esports?

According to Havard International Review, esports is defined as “video games that are played in a highly organized competitive environment. These games can range from popular, team-oriented multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs), to single-player first-person shooters, to survival battle royales, to virtual reconstructions of physical sports.”

Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often take the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams.

More specifically, by design and without exception, esports games rely more on skill than luck by a clear degree. This is probably the major appeal of esports, and any other form of competition.

Skill always relies on different physical or strategic abilities. Skill can be learned and developed. While you need to work hard to refine your skills, a stroke of luck can happen to anyone, at any time, in anything. There are often some minor elements of luck in esports titles but these usually don’t have an impact on the outcome of a contest.

The most popular titles

The most common video game genres associated with esports are multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), first-person shooter (FPS), fighting, card, battle royale, and real-time strategy (RTS) games.

Popular esports franchises include League of Legends, PUBG, Dota, Counter-Strike, Valorant, Overwatch, EAsport FIFA, Street Fighter, Super Smash Bros, and StarCraft, among many others.

Esports tournaments

Esports, as we know it today, is relatively new, however, competitive gaming has been around since the 90s. In the early 1990’s, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat competitions and tournaments grew in popularity followed by GoldenEye and other first-person shooters later that decade, which paved the way for the Starcraft, Warcraft, Overwatch, Call of Duty, and Halo series. Fast forward to 1998, the legendary Starcraft 2 tournament on PC boasted huge success in participation and audience.

As the 2000’s rolled around, Esports gained serious momentum. Tournament hosts such as the World Cyber Games and the Electronic Sports World Cup debuted, followed by the launch of Major League Gaming (MLG) in 2002. Today, MLG is considered one of the world’s most prominent hosts in Esports. In 2011, League of Legends had its first World Championship and in 2013, the event sold out the Staples Center in Los Angeles within minutes of tickets going on sale.

While the League of Legends World Championships are an indicator of the growth of esports as a spectator sport, the annual Dota 2 tournament: "The International" is a testament to how massive the sport has become on the financial side. The very first International was held on August 1, 2011. The top 16 teams in the world were invited to the event, which was the first publicly streamed Dota event. The tournament was broadcast in four different commentary languages and the grand prize for the winner was $1 million.

Since then, The International has broken its own record for the biggest prize pool in all of esports every year since 2014. The prize for first place ballooned up to $5,028,308 in 2014, $6,616,014 in 2015, $9,139,002 in 2016 and $10,862,683 in 2017. And these are just the top prizes; the prize pools overall have been over double this amount.

The audience

Sharing the same characteristics as traditional/physical sport, esports attract a huge audience who enjoyed watching competitive matches for various purposes such as entertainment and learning.

According to Newzoo, global Esports fandom is continuing to grow in 2022 and beyond. In 2022:

• The global esports audience will grow +8.7% year on year to reach 532 million.
• Esports enthusiasts—those who watch esports content more than once a month—will account for just over 261 million.
• Occasional viewers—those who watch esports content but less than once a month—will account for the remaining 271 million.

The main drivers behind esports audience growth are:

• Popular new esports franchises such as Valorant, which build on Riot’s previous successes and experience from League and Legends
• Mobile esports’ expansion with regional leagues like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and League of Legends: Wild Rift
• The rise of esports in growth markets across Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa

According to the said report, the number of esports enthusiasts will grow to 318 million in 2025, with a CAGR of +8.1% (2020-2025). In 2025, the total audience will surpass 640 million. The market’s longer-term growth is expected to be contributed by emerging markets across Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.

Is this an establishment yet?

With a history of over 30 years of development and evolvement, Esports today capture billions of dollars across the supply chain. The French president Emmanuel Macron even went on to make a statement on his government’s intention to work with the IOC to include the Esports competition as an official game in the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. We can’t help but think this is the sport of the future.