Esports tournament news, or organized competitive video gaming, is the fast-growing, billion-dollar industry where players compete to win real cash prizes. These competitions are watched by millions of fans across the world on live streaming platforms like YouTube or Twitch, on television on cable and broadcast networks, and even in person at events that sell out arenas like Madison Square Garden.
While the eSports industry is relatively new, the idea of gamers competing in games goes back as far as the early days of home consoles. In 1972, the first gamer competitions went live with Spacewar!, a two-player game that involved the control of spaceships. Later that decade, the popularity of arcade classics like Donkey Kong and Street Fighter increased as did first-person shooters including Quake, Starcraft, and Call of Duty.
Today, the biggest eSports competitions have tens of millions of viewers tuning in to watch teams battle it out on a global stage. They are held for the most popular video games, some of which are massively multiplayer and others feature high-stakes gameplay with big prize pools that attract mainstream brands to sponsor them.
The League of Legends World Championship, for instance, is one of the most prestigious and exciting contests, drawing over 100 million viewers last year. The winner receives the Summoner’s Cup, a 44-pound trophy designed by Tiffany & Co. and worth more than $150,000. Other eSports events are just as exciting. For example, Fortnite is a hugely popular game with an impressive community of passionate followers, and there are plenty of tournaments that offer high-stakes matches and some epic moments. Players like Faker, who won a record five consecutive League of Legends world championships for T1, and Daigo Umehara, who holds the all-time record in Street Fighter tournaments, have become legends in their own right.