After These Moments The World Started Talk About Esports

Esports will soon become mainstream. The eSports scores events are of interest to a growing number of audiences. Today you can comfortably watch upcoming events live and bet on your favorite teams at this link: https://tips.gg/matches/. It is spreading rapidly around the world. What were the key events in the development of eSports? How did the history of eSports begin? When did the first tournaments take place, and how did everything grow into large-scale events?

How Esports Was Born

Competitive gaming began when the first computer and arcade games appeared. Although there were few players, the competition was high. Soon the first tournaments appeared.

The first such tournament was held in 1972. The venue was Stanford University. At that time, 24 players fought for a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine, the event’s main sponsor.

At one time, the game company Atari also organized the competition. In 1980, more than 10,000 Space Invaders players competed against each other. The championship was given national status. The final was won by Rebecca Heinemann, who later became a game developer.

Formalized tournaments were not held until the 1990s, but Blockbuster and Nintendo championships were still rare at the time.

Early Formation, the 1990s

In the 1990s, esports began to grow rapidly. Those years saw the concept of video games that are popular today. Numerous console games appeared at the time, including the legendary Doom, which became a cult hit. Street Fighter 2 is even more popular today. Doom was the first first-person shooter to host tournaments.

At the beginning of the decade, eSports developed slowly. The release of Quake in the mid-90s was a breath of fresh air for the gaming community. A player nicknamed “Fatal1ty” could be called the first esports star. But this new sport first became mainstream after the release of StarCraft strategy.

The reason for StarCraft’s popularity is that it takes skill and style to succeed. First-person shooters require quick reflexes. StarCraft resembled chess, which also requires strategy, tactics, and logic.

With different minions and troops unique to each race, the strategy potential was endless. In those years, South Korea was the center of eSports and gave the world its first generation of talented players.

In 1996, the Evolution Championship Series, called “Battle by the Bay”, was started in California. The first tournament was an arcade tournament. It was attended by over 40 people competing in different versions of Street Fighter. EVO then moved to Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Later tournaments featured eight fighting eSports matches.

In 1997, the CyberFight Professional League (CPL) was created. They are the founders of esports. Up until 2008, it hosted a large number of events. The prize pool was about $3 million.

Quake was the main game of the league. The Fatal1ty mentioned above earned over half a million dollars in prize money. He later signed sponsorship deals and created his own brand of accessories.

In 1999, the first-person shooter genre continued to evolve: Counter-Strike was released. From the beginning, it was a Half-Life mod. But to this day, Counter-Strike is the pinnacle of eSports, and its popularity continues to grow.

The Year 2000: The New Era of eSports

In the 2000s, personal computers and the Internet became available. WCG and ESWC were held for the first time in 2000. These two events later evolved into annual tournaments that paved the way for the industry until the next decade.

In 2002, Major League Gaming, one of the most successful eSports leagues, was created. In 2006, they hosted a televised Halo 2 tournament. Activision Blizzard bought this tournament in 2016. In parallel, DreamHack evolved. It changed status and was now held as two events. DreamHack already had many tournaments under different names.

ESL was also founded in the 2000s. The company went from hosting local tournaments in Germany to global events. In 2007, the company signed a contract with Intel.

Esports has also begun to be shown on television. In 2007, they began to broadcast the CGS. The tournament featured teams named after different cities. Two seasons of the tournament were held.

The Year 2010: Dynamic Growth

In this decade, the biggest step forward has happened. Twitch.tv was created in 2011. This platform has helped attract the attention of a huge number of viewers. Previously, fans watched tournaments on TV, on various websites. Twitch.tv allowed viewers to go to the website and watch their favorite games. The audience has grown several times over.

League of Legends was released in 2009. But the popularity of the game came after 2010. The first major tournaments began with IEM. The culmination of the professional league was held at DreamHack Winter in 2011. League of Legends today announced a series of tournaments that will culminate in the World Championship.Riot Games has built a franchise: The European and North American leagues have entered into long-term partnerships with teams.

Dota2

Dota2 was released in 2011. The MOBA game genre is the same as LoL. But Dota2 managed to become one of the most popular games. The tournament season in the game follows a semi-open season system. Valve manages the Dota Pro Circuit, handing out points for majors and minors. The teams with the most points will receive a pass to The International. The event regularly breaks esports tournament prize pool records. More than $40 million has been raffled off at the International 2021.

StarCraft 2

StarCraft 2, released in 2010, brought the franchise back to esports. Tournaments in this game are characterized by the total dominance of players from South Korea. Today there are still tournaments on StarCraft 2, but the game has long lost its former position.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)

The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive game was released in 2012 and became one of the main eSports games. After an “Arms Deal” update in 2013, CS:GO burst into esports. Valve opened up opportunities for third-party tournaments around the world. Valve organizes two Majors a year with a $1 million prize pool for each event.

Overwatch

2016 marked the release of Overwatch and the announcement of the Overwatch League. It has become the largest franchise league in esports. A huge amount of money has been invested in the game. New sponsors have emerged with new team owners. The first Overwatch League took place in 2018. Its winner was the London Spitfire, owned by Cloud9.

In the 2010s, big business came into esports. DreamHack and ESL bought Modern Times Group in 2015. Amazon bought Twitch in 2014. Over the past few years, investors have realized the potential of esports and are actively investing in large organizations.

What Does The Future Hold?

The battle royale genre has become popular in recent years. The founder of the genre is PUBG. Fortnite and then Apex Legends were released right after it. Major tournaments are held for each of the eSports games. Streams in these disciplines gather the largest audiences.
Who knows what’s in store for esports? Some games are becoming popular. Others are becoming a thing of the past. Viewing figures for tournaments continue to rise. A whole culture is being born around tournaments.