What are E-sports?
As technology develops, so does our definition of sports. And as that changes, there comes a
wave of unexplored territory in the form of new, exciting sports. In the 1800s came rugby. In the
1900s came the reinvention of American football. In the present day, the 2000s, comes a
development arguably more influential than any before it. The advent of e-sports.
With everything new, there comes opposition, there comes people that disagree, there come the
people who refuse to accept change because it is different. And yet, e-sports are already being
played by millions of players worldwide, and viewed by many many more. In fact, the finals of the
League of Legends World Championship of 2016 were viewed by 43 million people, and the total
number of people that ended up tuning in to the competition reached a staggering 396 million.
The most popular competitive sports are typically split into two types of games, the more popular
MOBAs (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), which include games like League of Legends and DotA
2, and FPS (First Person Shooter) games, which include the also popular Counter Strike series.
Why would I play e-sports?
E-sports have millions of players for you to play with, with League of Legends having had 67
million monthly players in 2014, DotA 2 having 10 million players in the last two weeks, and
Counter Strike: Global Offensive having 25 million sales, meaning that there is an entire uncharted
world of socialization and communicating with an unimaginable amount of people to befriend,
whether you're playing with them or against them.
Several studies done in 2016 suggest that competing in e-sports, even if not done so
competitively or professionally, can improve cognitive ability, making you able to think more
quickly and perhaps even be smarter.
Due to the popularity of e-sports and their increasing acceptance as sports, many universities are
starting to offer scholarships for e-sporting performance (as others do with more traditional
sports), and are partaking in international school sporting tournaments with e-sports teams of
their own.
Competitive E-sports Playing
If we're being honest, the most appealing reason for playing sports is to hit it big, to become a
world renowned player that earns absurd amounts of money for doing something you enjoy. And
the same applies for e-sports.
Even in international tournaments, which are typically help yearly, large sums of money are offered
for the winners of professional competitions, with the 2017 DotA 2 international tournament
having a prize of a staggering $11 million for first place, and over a million for each placement that
comes sixth or above. The 2016 League of Legends World Championship had a less impressive
reward of $1 million, along with the ELEAGUE Major Counter Strike: Global Offensive tournament,
but it remains a large amount.
How do I start?
It's great to see that you're interested! Most of these games are extremely easy to begin playing,
with almost all of them being free to play and not requiring anything other than a computer, which
you almost definitely have already. You don't even need to ask someone how to play, as the
games come with a tutorial before you begin. All you need to start playing is to download the
game from the game’s official site. Most of the games have their own internal ranking system so
you can see how you compare to a league of other players without lifting a finger!