With the newly emerging technologies, changes in our lifestyle, including entertainment, are unavoidable. The changes generated a way for digitalization which means incorporating everything that is possible into the virtual world, including sports or versions that are now known as e-sports.
Furthermore, we can define E-sports as exclusively virtual tournaments between players that are involved in a competitive game. The most popular competitive games that are part of E-Sports are all popular video games. Therefore, E-Sports can also be considered gaming events. Being completely dependent on electronic devices, we can say that E-sports are a direct result of technological discoveries.
Origins of E-Sports
The first origins of E-Sport can be detected with the release of the first video games in the 1970s- 1980s. Another reason why e-sports were possible during the 80s was gaining the popularity of gaming consoles and their emerging as a common item in many households.
The first predecessor of the modern e-sport tournament happened in 1980. It was a space invader competition, and over 10,000 players took part in it. After the release of more video games like Street Fighter, Mortal Combat, Donkey Kong, and Quake, more gaming competitions followed.
In the 2000s, with new advancements in new PC tech, better video games were released, and thus, the first culmination of E-Sports was a StarCraft 2 PC tournament, which reached over 50 million viewers. The government in South Korea established the first E-Sports organization known as Korean Esports Assassination (KeSPA). Another interesting feature was the adoption of e-sports betting sites similar to Novibet. You can try this website and wager on golf or on anything else like football, tennis, E-Sports, and much more.
The Difference between E-Sport and Traditional Sport
Obviously, the main difference is the physical vs virtual world. However, the key difference would be the nature of the games of the sport.
In traditional sports, no one owns the games, and every person can play them whenever they want, but unlike traditional sports, the games in e-sports are owned by the developers, which means the players are completely dependent on the will of the developers.
The developers could easily alter the game rules, change key mechanisms, or choose not to logistically support the games. Regardless, E-Sports is still a young branch of sports with more space to improve.
Modern E-Sports
The modern period of e-sports can be traced back to 2006 when the first Halo tournament was broadcasted on television. That event can be marked as the first step when video games enter the mainstream. Another big factor in the popularization of e-sports was the internet. Internet streaming sites like Twitch often broadcast tournaments or even help with the effort of organization of some E-Sports tournaments.
With the expansion of the internet, games that are more multiplayer were developed, such as old games that were redesigned or had new additions like Dota, CSG Halo, and new games like League of Legends Valorat and Watch.
Regardless of their different background, most of these games were popular with gamers, which made raising money for tournaments quite easier. With the popularization of competitive gaming and E-Sports, sponsors were interested in supporting the organization as well as the new e-sport gamer celebrities enriching the whole movement in the process.
