E-sports: The Future

When people think of sports, they think of physical, strenuous activities that are played in stadiums, grounds, pitches, et cetera. They would be mostly right, because in a conventional way, games like football, cricket, basketball, badminton are physical and strenuous activities. I, however, see hundreds of millions of people talk about the same thing over, and over again. I will save you the numbers, the statistics, the player names, the big bucks, because today, I want to speak of the world of digital sports: e-sports.

E-sports, or electronic sports, is a type of multiplayer video game played competitively for spectators, typically by professional gamers. E-sports have become such a global phenomenon, that it turned video games into spectator sport. Switch your conventional sports channels with Twitch and YouTube, set up a good number of snacks, and you are ready to go! 

The toptal defines it as “Esports, short for “electronic sports,” transforms online gaming into a spectator sport. The experience is similar to watching a professional sporting event, except that instead of watching a physical event, spectators watch video gamers compete against each other in a virtual environment. If it’s hard to imagine why anyone would watch somebody else playing a video game, just think about how enjoyable it is to watch Lebron James or Steph Curry play basketball. Just as traditional sports fans enjoy watching top athletes perform at the top of their craft, the same is true of those who watch top video gamers compete.”

Much like conventional sporting events, e-sport encompasses a large range of competitions too, ranging from video game titles (League of Legends, Valorant, FIFA, CS: GO) to level competitions such as state, national, international, and so on. Due to the popularity of the sport, it sees no financial shortage either, as winnings have been as high as millions of dollars (USD) for a single gaming event. Wild, isn’t it? And it is even more surprising given the novelty of the fact. E-sports, MMO-RPGS (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games), FPS (first person shooters), and Virtual Sports (NBA2K, FIFA, WWE, NFL) did not show up in online spaces until the late 2000s, which, in comparison to the actual sports like football, and cricket, makes this kind of activity almost so brand new, it should be nowhere near their level. Yet, it is.

And there are far too many valid reasons for that, as well:

1. E-sports do not require you to be physically strong, young, tall, or muscular. All it requires is dedication, a good eye, and an abundance of time to be good at. 

2. The one drawback of e-sports mentioned by critics is the need for expensive equipment, which is not true at all. One can build a personal computer for about INR 50,000, or about USD 500 and get a more than sufficient experience.

3. Esports are set in the digital world: perhaps the most important and interesting point, as that means that there is virtually very little limiting the game to anything!

What I mean is, in a game of football, the pitch dimensions are set, which allow a maximum of 22 players (11 on one side) to play on it at one time. Similarly, in Basketball, equipment tends to expire a lot quickly. A lot of these limitations do not apply to e-sports as, OfCourse, the virtual world is boundless, and limitless. Everything is a few lines of code away, and that’s what makes it so beautiful. 

Why do I say e-sport is the future, you ask?

There is but a simple answer to this question.  

According to Newzoo, an esports market research organization, in 2017, the audience of esports will reach a total of roughly 385 million people globally. Of this figure, 191 million are “esports enthusiasts” and 194 million are “occasional viewers.” The number of enthusiasts is projected to grow by 50% by 2020, totaling 286 million. Most fans are in Asia, North America, and Europe: In the past, people thought that the craze of competitive video gaming was primarily an Asian phenomenon, yet today only 51% of esports enthusiasts are in Asia. In fact, North America and Europe have taken a prominent place in the global esports and gaming ecosystem. 

This number is only increasing, and popularity aside, with the rapid developments in technology, VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) systems, quite literally anything is possible in this. Moreover, with the revolution in both digital (controller) and VR play, e-sport will take away the necessity of ever going to a ground to play again. If that wasn’t enough, weather conditions do not affect esports, team building is easy, and equipment is almost always a one-time investment. Wait, I have more, obviously, e-sport also allows the players to delve into worlds that were thought impossible to be in, from the wars of ancient Greek to the dueling grounds of Hogwarts: anything is possible.

From Wii sports to Kinect, e-sports have impacted all our lives. BGMI, a game so massively popular in India that the government had to bring it back some way after banning it, is an e-sport title. So is Free-fire, Fortnite and even Roblox, and I am willing to bet a lot that you have heard at least one of those names, if not, there is Call of Duty, FIFA, NBA, et cetera, and believe it or not, it is becoming a force to be reckoned with. Afterall, I want to say just one thing. 

There is no limitation to e-sport, and I am here for it all.