Competitive gaming isn’t a new concept.
According to information I read from an article on TheSporting.blog, the first known Esports like event was held by the University of Standford in 1971.
Students who participated competed in a retro game called “Spacewar!” released in 1962. The winner of this competition received a subscription to Rolling Stone Magazine for a year.
This event became a stepping stone to the first official competitive gaming event. This was a Space Invaders tournament in 1980. This event had more than 10,000 participants, and caught the attention of the media.
As technology improves over the years, we are connected to more people than ever. I could load up a multiplayer game, and I will be teamed up with other people, who aren’t in the same room as me. They might not even be in the same country as me.
This reach can help players who wouldn’t have met before form teams after meeting them via online environments.
The internet also makes gaming content more accessible than it used to be. You can always catch up with any content you missed, and engage in discussions with other fans.
Much like conventional sports, anyone can take an interest, and there are many opportunities to venture into the world of Esports. There are Discord servers dedicated to specific games, gaming forums and sub forums like Reddit, which is also a great place to find players seeking members to join their teams.
Most universities in Wales now even have their own Esports teams. Swansea University, Cardiff, Cardiff Met, Aber, Banger all have their own.
Competitive gaming, in general, also offers a place for those with exceptional skills at a specific game to play at a higher level against players their own skill level. There is a lot more thought, planning and teamwork needed in Esports than there is in typical PVP gameplay. Even if a player doesn’t meet the skill criteria to join a team, they can learn valuable tactics from watching them play. It also appeals to those who might not be interested in other forms of competition, but want to see their favourite PVP game played at a competitive level.
Based on the thing that I have mentioned, how many people attend the relevant streams for Esports events, and how many people turned up to in-person events, prior to COVID-19, I can see Esports becoming a mainstream event, as more people will take interest in their favourite PVP games taking place on bigger platforms.
