Just How Popular Are ESports Tournaments?

Way back in 1972, the very first video game competition took place. This happened at Stanford University on 19th October and involved the game Spacewar. Over the next few decades, more video games came out and more competitions happened. Then, the internet came along, taking the world of gaming to the next level.

Nowadays, there are huge international tournaments where people from around the world play multiplayer games, all vying for the top prize. These are branded as eSports and have become exceptionally popular in recent years. Millions of people watch their favorite players take part in tournaments. Some even place bets on their favorite teams or players at sites like GGBet to hopefully make some money. But just how big are these tournaments, and what does the future hold for them?

How Does an ESports Tournament Work?

A typical eSports tournament works in pretty much the same way as a regular sports tournament would work. Instead of people practising physical sports, they’re playing video games instead. Some games require players to compete in teams, whereas others have people play individually. Teams and individual players who qualify are invited to a tournament and are whittled down over multiple rounds until a winner is determined.

Tournaments typically involve high-selling games and are streamed live to viewers around the world. At the biggest ones, the cash prizes involved can be very high indeed. While the winner naturally takes home the biggest prize, some tournaments give rewards to all participants, with the lowest-ranking ones still receiving a substantial sum of money.

Among the many video games that feature in eSports tournaments are:

• Dota 2 – A multiplayer online battle arena game that came out in 2013 where two teams of five compete to destroy a large structure in the other team’s base.
• League of Legends – Since its release in 2009, League of Legends has been recognized as one of the best video games ever made and has been the focus of some of the world’s biggest eSports tournaments.
• Fortnite – A hugely popular multiplayer game, Fortnite came out in 2017 and is best known for its Fortnite Battle Royale mode where as many as 100 players fight one another until there’s just one player left.
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – Released in 2012, it’s the fourth game in the Counter-Strike series and is a first-person multiplayer shooter that focuses on terrorist activity (detonating bombs and capturing hostages) and has nine official modes.

Some don’t agree that eSports should have the word ‘sports’ in the title because players aren’t doing anything sporty; they’re just sitting down and playing a video game. Others think that eSports should be so-called because they involve high levels of skill, concentration, and strategy, along with in-depth knowledge of the game being played and, in most cases, the ability to work together as a team.

The Biggest ESports Tournaments in the World

In December 2023, the League of Legends World Championship took place. This holds the distinction of being the most-watched eSports tournament ever, with some 6.4 million people streaming the action at its peak. This was considerably more than the previous record holder, the Free Fire World Series 2021, which was held in Singapore and attracted 5.41 million viewers. The major platforms on which eSports tournaments are streamed are Twitch and YouTube.

For comparison’s sake, the 2022 League of Legends World Championship attracted a peak viewership of 5.15 million. The fact that this figure grew by over 1 million year-on-year shows that the audience for League of Legends has increased considerably. Such a jump in the viewing figures is very impressive and is a sign that the popularity of certain eSports, and eSports in general, shouldn’t be overlooked.

What’s great about the eSports scene is that while it’s already popular, there’s still a huge amount of room for growth. It’s safe to say that eSports is still niche in the sense that it’s not completely mainstream and isn’t as big as regular sports tournaments. However, there’s no denying that it’s got a sizable audience of its own and that it could well become as big as mainstream sports someday.

Where Do ESports Tournaments Go From Here?

It’s very likely indeed that eSports tournaments are going to become even bigger in the near future. The biggest games have a lot of momentum behind them thanks not only to the quality of the games themselves but also to their very active and involved communities.

There’s a very good chance that the current record for peak viewership (6.4 million) will be beaten not just once but many times. League of Legends will probably beat its own record, though another video game could experience a surge in popularity and attract more viewers to its own tournament.

Whatever happens, it’s a great time to be a fan of eSports. The industry is thriving right now and while the current tournaments are exciting events for all those involved, there will probably be more of them in the next few years. The biggest video games will continue to have tournaments and some games that aren’t so popular right now might become huge and start having tournaments of their own.

What About ESports in General?

While tournaments will no doubt continue to bring in millions of viewers, it will be interesting to see how eSports themselves grow and develop in the future. There has been talking of major sporting competitions possibly recognizing eSports and including them in their line-ups. In fact, eSports were featured at the 2022 Commonwealth Games as a test run for possible inclusion in the 2026 event. There have been attempts to include eSports in the Olympics. While playing video games won’t be featured as an Olympic sport, there’s actually going to be a separate event, the Olympic ESports Games, which will be held in Saudi Arabia in 2025. The future of eSports and its tournaments looks very bright indeed.

Sources:

• https://www.statista.com/statistics/507491/esports-tournaments-by-number-viewers-global/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Esports_Series#Future