eSports

This article is about video game competitions. For simulated sports in video games, see sports game. For games involving exercise, see exergaming. For the sports game division of Electronic Arts, see EA Sports.
Not to be confused with multiplayer video game.
The International, an annual Dota 2 tournament at the KeyArena in Seattle

The eSports (also known as electronic sports, esports, e-sports, competitive (video) gaming, professional (video) gaming, or pro gaming) is a form of competition that is facilitated by electronic systems, particularly video games; the input of players and teams as well as the output of the eSports system are mediated by human-computer interfaces.[1] Most commonly, eSports take the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players. The most common video game genres associated with eSports are real-time strategy, fighting, first-person shooter (FPS), and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA). Tournaments such as The International, the League of Legends World Championship, the Battle.net World Championship Series, the Evolution Championship Series, the Intel Extreme Masters, and the Smite World Championship provide live broadcasts of the competition, and prize money and salaries to competitors.

Although organized online and offline competitions have long been a part of video game culture, participation and spectatorship of such events have seen a large surge in popularity from the late 2000s and early 2010s. While competitions around 2000 were largely between amateurs, the proliferation of professional competitions and growing viewership now supports a significant number of professional players and teams,[2] and many video game developers now build features into their games designed to facilitate such competition.

The genre of fighting games and arcade game fighters have also been popular in amateur tournaments, although the fighting game community has often distanced themselves from the eSports label.[3] In the mid 2010s, the most successful titles featured in professional competition were the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games Dota 2 and League of Legends, and the first person shooter game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.[4] Other games with significant earnings include Smite, StarCraft II, Call of Duty, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone and Overwatch.

In 2013, it was estimated that approximately 71.5 million people worldwide watched eSports.[5] The increasing availability of online streaming media platforms, particularly Twitch.tv, has become central to the growth and promotion of eSports competitions.[6] Demographically, Major League Gaming has reported viewership that is approximately 85% male and 15% female, with 60% of viewers between the ages of 18 and 34.[7] Despite this, several female personalities within eSports are hopeful about the increasing presence of female gamers.[8][9] South Korea has several established eSports organizations, which have licensed pro gamers since the year 2000. Recognition of eSports competitions outside South Korea has come somewhat slower. Along with South Korea, most competitions take place in Europe, North America and China. Despite its large video game market, eSports in Japan is relatively underdeveloped, which has been attributed largely to its broad anti-gambling laws.[10]

The global eSports market generated US $325 million of revenue in 2015 and is expected to make $493 million in 2016; the global eSports audience in 2015 was 226 million people.[11]

History

Early history (1972–1989)

Attendees of the 1981 Space Invaders Championships attempt to set the highest score

The earliest known video game competition took place on 19 October 1972 at Stanford University for the game Spacewar. Stanford students were invited to an "Intergalactic spacewar olympics" whose grand prize was a year's subscription for Rolling Stone, with Bruce Baumgart winning the five-man-free-for-all tournament and Tovar and Robert E. Maas winning the Team Competition.[12] The Space Invaders Championship held by Atari in 1980 was the earliest large scale video game competition, attracting more than 10,000 participants across the United States, establishing competitive gaming as a mainstream hobby.[13]

In the summer of 1980, Walter Day founded a high score record keeping organization called Twin Galaxies.[14] The organization went on to help promote video games and publicize its records through publications such as the Guinness Book of World Records, and in 1983 it created the U.S. National Video Game Team. The team was involved in competitions, such as running the Video Game Masters Tournament for Guinness World Records[15][16] and sponsoring the North American Video Game Challenge tournament.[17]

During the 1970s and 1980s, video game players and tournaments begun being featured in popular websites and magazines including Life and Time.[18] One of the most well known classic arcade game players is Billy Mitchell, for his listing as holding the records for high scores in six games including Pac-Man and Donkey Kong in the 1985 issue of the Guinness Book of World Records.[19] Televised eSports events aired during this period included the American show Starcade which ran between 1982 and 1984 airing a total of 133 episodes, on which contestants would attempt to beat each other's high scores on an arcade game.[20] A video game tournament was included as part of TV show That's Incredible!,[21] and tournaments were also featured as part of the plot of various films, including 1982's Tron.[22]

Online video games (1990–1999)

In the 1990s, many games benefited from increasing internet connectivity, especially PC games. For example, the 1988 game Netrek was an Internet game for up to 16 players, written almost entirely in cross-platform open source software. Netrek was the third Internet game, the first Internet game to use metaservers to locate open game servers, and the first to have persistent user information. In 1993 it was credited by Wired Magazine as "the first online sports game".[23]

Large eSports tournaments in the 1990s include the 1990 Nintendo World Championships, which toured across the United States, and held its finals at Universal Studios Hollywood in California. Nintendo held a 2nd World Championships in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System called the Nintendo PowerFest '94. There were 132 finalists that played in the finals in San Diego, California. Mike Iarossi took home 1st prize. Blockbuster Video also ran their own World Game Championships in the early 1990s, co-hosted by GamePro magazine. Citizens from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Chile were eligible to compete. Games from the 1994 championships included NBA Jam and Virtua Racing.[24]

Television shows featuring eSports during this period included the British shows GamesMaster and Bad Influence! the Australian gameshow A*mazing, which would show two children competing in various Nintendo games in order to win points.

Tournaments established in the late 1990s include the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL), QuakeCon, and the Professional Gamers League. PC games played at the CPL included the Counter-Strike series, Quake series, and Warcraft.

Global tournaments (2000 onwards)

The growth of eSports in South Korea is thought to have been influenced by the mass building of broadband internet networks following the 1997 Asian financial crisis.[25] It is also thought that the high unemployment rate at the time caused many people to look for things to do while out of work.[26] Instrumental to this growth of eSports in South Korea was the prevalence of the Komany-style internet café/LAN gaming center, known as a PC bang. The Korean e-Sports Association, an arm of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, was founded in 2000 to promote and regulate eSports in the country.[27]

In the second decade of the 21st century, eSports has grown tremendously, incurring a large increase in both viewership and prize money.[28][29] Although large tournaments were founded before the 21st century, the number and scope of tournaments has increased significantly, going from about 10 tournaments in 2000 to about 260 in 2010.[6] Many successful tournaments were founded during this period, including the World Cyber Games, the Intel Extreme Masters, and Major League Gaming. The proliferation of tournaments included experimentation with competitions outside traditional eSports genres. For example, the September 2006 FUN Technologies Worldwide Webgames Championship featured 71 contestants competing in casual games for a $1 million grand prize.[30]

In April 2006 the G7 teams federation were formed by seven prominent Counter-Strike teams. The goal of the organization was to increase stability in the eSports world, particularly in standardizing player transfers and working with leagues and organizations. The founding members were 4 Kings, Fnatic, Made in Brazil, Mousesports, NiP, SK-Gaming, Team 3D.[31] The organization only lasted until 2009 before dissolving.[32]

The 2000s was also the peak of televised eSports. Television coverage was best established in South Korea, with StarCraft and Warcraft III competitions regularly televised by dedicated 24-hour cable TV game channels Ongamenet and MBCGame.[33] Elsewhere, eSports television coverage was sporadic. The German GIGA Television covered eSports until its shutdown in 2009. The United Kingdom satellite television channel XLEAGUE.TV broadcast eSports competitions from 2007 to 2009. The online eSports only channel ESL TV[34] briefly attempted a paid television model re-named GIGA II from June 2006 to autumn 2007. The French channel Game One broadcast eSports matches in a show called Arena Online for the Xfire Trophy.[35] The United States channel ESPN hosted Madden NFL competitions in a show called Madden Nation from 2005 to 2008.[36] DirecTV broadcast the Championship Gaming Series tournament for two seasons in 2007 and 2008.[33] CBS aired prerecorded footage of the 2007 World Series of Video Games tournament that was held in Louisville, Kentucky, US.[37] The G4 television channel originally covered video games exclusively, but broadened its scope to cover technology and men's lifestyle, though has now shutdown.[33]

The popularity and emergence of online streaming services have helped the growth of eSports in this period, and are the most common method of watching tournaments. Twitch, an online streaming platform launched in 2011, routinely streams popular eSports competitions. In 2013, viewers of the platform watched 12 billion minutes of video on the service, with the two most popular Twitch broadcasters being League of Legends and Dota 2.[38] During one day of The International, Twitch recorded 4.5 million unique views, with each viewer watching for an average of two hours.[39]

The modern eSports boom has also seen a rise in video games companies embracing the eSports potential of their products. After many years of ignoring and at times suppressing the eSports scene, Nintendo hosted Wii Games Summer 2010. Spanning over a month, the tournament had over 400,000 participants, making it the largest and most expansive tournament in the company's history. In 2014 Nintendo hosted an invitational Super Smash Bros. for Wii U competitive tournament at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) press conference that was streamed online on Twitch.[40] Halo developers 343 Industries announced in 2014 plans to revive Halo as an eSport with the creation of the Halo Championship Series and a prize pool of $50,000 USD.[41] Both Blizzard Entertainment and Riot Games have their own collegiate outreach programs with their North American Collegiate Championship.[42][43] Since 2013 universities and colleges in the United States such as Robert Morris University Illinois and the University of Pikeville have recognized eSports players as varsity level athletes and offer athletic scholarships.[44]

In 2014, the largest independent eSports league, Electronic Sports League, partnered with the local brand Japan Competitive Gaming to try and grow eSports in the country.[45]

Physical viewership of eSports competitions and the scope of events have increased in tandem with the growth of online viewership.[46] In 2013 the Season 3 League of Legends World Championship was held in a sold-out Staples Center.[47] The 2014 League of Legends World Championship in Seoul, South Korea had over 40,000 fans in attendance and featured the band Imagine Dragons, and opening and closing ceremonies in addition to the competition.[48]

Classification as a sport

Labeling video games as sports is somewhat controversial.[49][50] While some point to the growth in popularity of eSports as justification for designating some games as sports, others contend that video games will never reach the status of "true sports".[51] However popularity is not the only reason identified: some have argued that "careful planning, precise timing, and skillful execution"[52] ought to be what classifies an activity as sport, and that physical exertion and outdoor playing areas are not required by all traditional or non-traditional 'sports'. In a 2014 technology conference, when asked about the recent buyout of popular game streaming service Twitch, ESPN president John Skipper described eSports as "not a sport – [they're] a competition."[53][54][55][56][57][58] In 2013 on an episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel the panelist openly laughed at the topic.[59] In addition, many in the fighting games community maintain a distinction between their competitive gaming competitions and the more commercially connected eSports competitions of other genres.[60] Video games are sometimes classified as a mind sport.[61] In the 2015 eSports World Championship hosted by the International e-Sports Federation, an eSports panel was hosted with guests from international sports society to discuss the future recognition of eSports as a recognized, legitimate sporting activity worldwide.[62]

In 2013, Canadian League of Legends player Danny "Shiphtur" Le became the first pro gamer to receive a United States P-1A visa, a category designated for "Internationally Recognized Athletes".[63][64]

In 2016, the French government started working on a project to regulate and recognize eSports.[65]

Games

Main article: List of eSports games

A number of games are popular among professional competitors. The tournaments which emerged in the mid-1990s coincided with the popularity of fighting games and first-person shooters, genres which still maintain a devoted fan base. In the 2000s, real-time strategy games became overwhelmingly popular in South Korean internet cafés, with crucial influence on the development of eSports worldwide. After 2010 with the release of the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne mod Defense of the Ancients, multiplayer online battle arena games became popular as eSports. Competitions exist for many titles and genres, though currently the most popular games are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty, League of Legends, Dota 2, Smite, Rocket League, World of Tanks, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Super Smash Bros. Melee and StarCraft II.[66] Hearthstone has also popularized the digital collectible card game (CCG) genre since its release in 2014.[67]

Video game design

While it is common for video games to be designed with the experience of the player in game being the only priority, many successful eSports games have been designed to be played professionally from the beginning. Developers may decide to add dedicated eSports features, or even make design compromises to support high level competition. Games such as StarCraft II,[68] League of Legends,[69] and Dota 2[70] have all been designed, at least in part, to support professional competition.

Spectator mode

In addition to allowing players to participate in a given game, many game developers have added dedicated observing features for the benefit of spectators. This can range from simply allowing players to watch the game unfold from the competing player's point of view, to a highly modified interface that gives spectators access to information even the players may not have. The state of the game viewed through this mode may tend to be delayed by a certain amount of time in order to prevent either teams in a game from gaining a competitive advantage. Games with these features include Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty,[71] StarCraft II,[72][73] Dota 2,[74] and Counter-Strike.[75] League of Legends includes spectator features, which are restricted to custom game modes.[76][77]

In response to the release of virtual reality headsets in 2016, some games, such as Dota 2, were updated to include virtual reality spectating support.[78]

Online

A very common method for connection is the Internet. Game servers are often separated by region, but high quality connections allow players to set up real-time connections across the world. Downsides to online connections include increased difficulty detecting cheating compared to physical events, and greater network latency, which can negatively impact players' performance, especially at high levels of competition. Many competitions take place online, especially for smaller tournaments and exhibition games.

Since the 1990s, professional teams or organized clans have set up matches via Internet Relay Chat networks such as QuakeNet. As eSports has developed, it has also become common for players to use automated matchmaking clients built into the games themselves. This was popularized by the 1996 release of Blizzard's Battle.net, which has been integrated into both the Warcraft and StarCraft series. Automated matchmaking has become commonplace in console gaming as well, with services such as Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. After competitors have contacted each other, the game is often managed by a game server, either remotely to each of the competitors, or running on one of the competitor's machines.

Local area network

Further information: LAN Party

Additionally, competitions are also often conducted over a local area network or LAN. The smaller network usually has very little lag and higher quality. Because competitors must be physically present, LANs help ensure fair play by allowing direct scrutiny of competitors. This helps prevent many forms of cheating, such as unauthorized hardware or software modding. The physical presence of competitors helps create a more social atmosphere at LAN events. Many gamers organize LAN parties or visit Internet cafés, and most major tournaments are conducted over LANs.

Individual games have taken various approaches to LAN support. In contrast to the original StarCraft, StarCraft II was released without support for LAN play, drawing some strongly negative reactions from players.[79] League of Legends was originally released for online play only, but announced in October 2012 that a LAN client was in the works for use in major tournaments.[80] In September 2013, Valve added general support for LAN play to Dota 2 in a patch for the game.[81]

Tournaments

Casual players at the 2013 Intel Extreme Masters in Katowice, Poland

eSports tournaments are almost always physical events in which occur in front of a live audience. The tournament may be part of a larger gathering, such as Dreamhack, or the competition may be the entirety of the event, like the World Cyber Games. Competitions take several formats, but the most common are single or double elimination, sometimes hybridized with group stage. Competitions usually have referees or officials to monitor for cheating.[82]

Although competitions involving video games have long existed, eSports underwent a significant transition in the late 1990s. Beginning with the Cyberathlete Professional League in 1997, tournaments became much larger, and corporate sponsorship became more common. Increasing viewership both in person and online brought eSports to a wider audience.[2][83] Major tournaments include the World Cyber Games, the North American Major League Gaming league, the France based Electronic Sports World Cup, and the World e-Sports Games held in Hangzhou, China.

For well established games, total prize money can amount to millions of U.S. dollars a year.[84][85] As of 10 September 2016, Dota 2 has awarded approximately US$86 million in prize money within 632 registered tournaments, with 23 players winning over $1 million.[86] League of Legends awarded approximately $30 million within 1749 registered tournaments, but in addition to the prize money, Riot Games provides salaries for players within their League of Legends Championship Series.[87][88] Nonetheless, there has been criticism to how these salaries are distributed, since most players earn a fairly low wage but a few top players have a significantly higher salary, skewing the average earning per player.[89]

Often, game developers provide prize money for tournament competition directly,[84] but sponsorship may also come from third parties, typically companies selling computer hardware, energy drinks, or computer software. Generally, hosting a large eSports event is not profitable as a stand alone venture.[90] For example, Riot has stated that their headline League of Legends Championship Series is "a significant investment that we're not making money from".[91]

There is considerable variation and negotiation over the relationship between video game developers and tournament organizers and broadcasters. While the original StarCraft events emerged in South Korea largely independently of Blizzard, the company decided to require organizers and broadcasters to authorize events featuring the sequel StarCraft II.[92] In the short term, this led to a deadlock with the Korean e-Sports Association.[93] An agreement was reached in 2012.[94] Blizzard requires authorization for tournaments with more than $10,000 USD in prizes.[95] Riot Games offers in-game rewards to authorized tournaments.[96]

eSport competitions have also become a popular feature at gaming and multi-genre conventions. Riot Games hosted their 2014 League of Legends European Regionals live at Gamescom, and hosted the North American counterpart at Penny Arcade Expo.[97][98]

Teams and associations

Professional gamers, or "pro gamers", are often associated with gaming teams and/or broader gaming associations. Teams like OpTic Gaming, Evil Geniuses, Team SoloMid, Cloud9, Fnatic, Mineski, Counter Logic Gaming, SK Telecom T1, Splyce, EnVyUs, and Natus Vincere consist of several professionals. In addition to prize money from tournament wins, players may also be paid a separate team salary. Team sponsorship may cover tournament travel expenses or gaming hardware. Prominent eSports sponsors include companies such as Logitech and Razer.[99] Teams feature these sponsors on their website, team jerseys[100] and on their social media, in 2016 the biggest teams have social media followings of over 1.27 million.[101] Associations include the Korean e-Sports Association (KeSPA), the International e-Sports Federation (IeSF), the British eSports Association, the International eGames Committee (IEGC) and the World eSports Association (WESA).

Traditional sports athletes have shown interest in eSports, examples being Rick Fox's ownership of Echo Fox and Shaquille O'Neal's investment in NRG eSports. Some soccer teams, such as Schalke 04 in Germany and PSG eSports in France, have ownership in eSports teams.[102][103][104][105]

Ethics

Further information: Professional ethics

Pro gamers are usually obligated to behave ethically, abiding by both the explicit rules set out by tournaments, associations, and teams, as well as following general expectations of good sportsmanship. For example, it is common practice and considered good etiquette to chat "gg" (for "good game") when defeated.[106] Many games rely on the fact competitors have limited information about the game state. In a prominent example of good conduct, during a 2012 IEM StarCraft II game, the players Feast and DeMusliM both voluntarily offered information about their strategies to negate the influence of outside information inadvertently leaked to "Feast" during the game.[107] Players in some leagues have been reprimanded for failure to comply with expectations of good behavior. In 2012 professional League of Legends player Christian "IWillDominate" Riviera was banned from competing for a period of one year following a history of verbal abuse.[108] In 2013 StarCraft II progamer Greg "Idra" Fields was fired from Evil Geniuses for insulting his fans on the Team Liquid internet forums.[109] League of Legends players Mithy and Nukeduck received similar penalties in 2014 after behaving in a "toxic" manner during matches.[110]

There have been serious violations of the rules. In 2010, eleven StarCraft: Brood War players were found guilty of fixing matches for profit, and were fined and banned from future competition. Team Curse and Team Dignitas were denied prize money for collusion during the 2012 MLG Summer Championship.[111] In 2012, Azubu Frost was fined US$30,000 for cheating during a semifinal match of the world playoffs.[112] Dota 2 player Aleksey "Solo" Berezin was suspended from a number of tournaments for intentionally throwing a game in order to collect $322 from online gambling.[113] In 2014, four high-profile North American Counter-Strike players, namely Sam "DaZeD" Marine, Braxton "swag" Pierce, Joshua "steel" Nissan and Keven "AZK" Lariviere were suspended from official tournaments after they had been found guilty of match-fixing. The four players had allegedly profited over US$10,000 through betting on their fixed matches.[114] Gambling on eSports using Counter-Strike: Global Offense "skins", while an estimated US$2.3 billion value in 2015, had come under criticism in June and July 2016 after several questionable legal and ethical aspects of the practice were discovered.[115]

Performance-enhancing drugs

Reports of widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in eSports are not uncommon, with players discussing their own, their teammates' and their competitors' use and officials acknowledging the prevalence of the issue.[116][117][118][119] Players often turn to stimulants such as Ritalin, Adderall and Vyvanse, drugs which can significantly boost concentration, improve reaction time and prevent fatigue.[116] Selegiline, a drug used to treat Parkinson's disease, is reportedly popular because, like stimulants, it enhances mood and motivation. Conversely, drugs with calming effects are also sought after. Some players take propanolol, which blocks the effects of adrenaline, or Valium, which is prescribed to treat anxiety disorder, in order to remain calm under pressure.[117][118] According to Bjoern Franzen, a former SK Gaming executive, it is second nature for some League of Legends players to take as many as three different drugs before competition.[120] In July 2015 Kory "Semphis" Friesen, an ex-Cloud9 player, admitted that he and his teammates were all using Adderall during a match against Virtus.pro in the ESL One Katowice 2015 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament, and went on to claim that "everyone" at ESEA League tournaments uses Adderall.[119]

The unregulated use of such drugs poses severe risks to competitors' health, including addiction, overdose, serotonin syndrome and, in the case of stimulants, weight loss.[116][117] Even over-the-counter energy drinks which are marketed specifically toward gamers have faced media and regulatory scrutiny due to deaths and hospitalizations.[121] Accordingly, Adderall and other such stimulants are banned and their use penalized by many professional sporting bodies and leagues, including Major League Baseball and the National Football League. Although International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) is a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the governing body has not outlawed any PEDs in its sanctioned competitions.[116] Action has been taken on the individual league level, however, as at least one major league, the Electronic Sports League, has made use of any drugs during matches punishable by expulsion from competition.[122] Although not all players use drugs, most of the population use energy boosters or drinks. They commonly use Red Bull, GFuel and an assortment of other caffeinated drinks or energy pills.

Player exploitation

There has been some concern over the quality of life and potential mistreatment of players by organizations, especially in South Korea. Korean organizations have been accused of refusing to pay competitive salaries, leading to a slow exodus of Korean players to other markets. In an interview, League of Legends player Bae "Dade" Eo-jin said that "Korean players wake up at 1pm and play until 5am", and suggested that the 16 hour play schedule was a significant factor in causing burnout.[123] Concerns over the mental health of players intensified in 2014 when League of Legends player Cheon "Promise" Min-Ki attempted suicide a week after admitting to match fixing.[124]

To combat the negative environment, Korean League of Legends teams were given new rules for the upcoming 2015 season by Riot Games, including the adoption of minimum salaries for professional players, requiring contracts and allowing players to stream individually for additional player revenue.[125]

Players must handle their own treatments and carry their own medical insurance, which is opposite of the norm with professional sports teams. Since most eSports play requires many actions per minute, some players may get repetitive strain injuries, causing hand or wrist pain.[126]

Economics

League of Legends Championship Series and League of Legends Champions Korea offer guaranteed salaries for players.[127] Despite this, online streaming is preferred by some players, as it is in some cases more profitable than competing with a team and streamers have the ability to determine their own schedule. The International tournament awards US$10 million to the winners, however teams that do not have the same amount of success often do not have financial stability and frequently break up after failing to win.[128]

In 2015 it was estimated by SuperData Research that the global eSports industry generated revenue of around US$748.8 million that year. Asia is the leading eSports market with over $321 million in revenue, North America is around $224 million, and Europe has $172 million and the rest of the world for about $29 million.[129] Global eSports revenue is estimated to reach $1.9 billion by 2018.

Women in eSports

The number of female viewers has been growing in eSports, and in 2013 30% of eSports enthusiasts were female, an increase from 15% in the previous year. However, despite the increase in female viewers, there is a dearth of female players in high level competitive eSports. The top female players that are involved in eSports mainly get exposure in female-only tournaments, most notably Counter-Strike, Dead or Alive 4, and StarCraft II.[130] All-female eSports teams include the Frag Dolls and PMS Clan.

The first professional female StarCraft 2 player, Kim "Eve" Shee-yoon, was the subject of controversy in 2011 when her team manager stated that she had been selected for "her skills and looks."[131]

Canadian StarCraft II Zerg player Sasha "Scarlett" Hostyn first gained notoriety in the open qualifiers of IGN ProLeague 4, where she defeated top-tier Korean players.[132] She is well known for being one of the few non-Korean players who can play at the same skill level as male Korean players.[133]

In December 2015, Kayla "Squizzay" Squires became the first female Call of Duty player to turn professional upon qualifying for the Call of Duty World League in the Australian region.[134]

Team Siren, an all-female League of Legends team, was formed in June 2013. The announcement of the team was met with controversy, being dismissed as a "gimmick" to attract the attention of men.[135][136] The team disbanded within a month, due to the negative publicity of their promotional video, as well as the poor attitude of the team captain towards her teammates.[137][138]

Team Unikrn, an all-female professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team, was formed in October 2015. This came after Unikrn had been criticized for pledging to sponsor any League of Legends Championship Series team who picked up a female player, given that betting companies are prohibited from sponsoring such teams.[139]

A team from Counter Logic Gaming, a large eSports company based in Los Angeles, California is known to be one of the major eSports companies with an all-female Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team.[140] The team is not very well known itself but with larger eSports organizations like Counter Logic Gaming, venturing into female eSports, it could grow with the teams being more mixed, or see a league just for women.

Accusations of sexism in professional eSports have been common; for example one Hearthstone tournament was open only to males, although the host of the tournament maintained that this was in accordance with the IeSF's guidelines as was only meant to avoid conflicts with the rules, then following the media coverage, the tournament was opened to females.[141] In 2012, Street Fighter x Tekken player ArisBakhtanians commented on the lack of female players in the community, saying "sexual harassment is part of a culture, and if you remove that from the fighting game community, it's not the fighting game community." He later apologized for his comments.[142]

Media coverage

Desk commentators providing pre-game analysis for a Dota 2 tournament in Frankfurt, Germany

News reporting

The main medium for eSports coverage is the Internet. Coverage of eSports by general news organizations is generally sparse; most reports come from news organizations with a technology or video games focus. Esports Heaven, RankR eSports, Esports Nation[143] (ESN), and ESFI World[144] are among the few independent news organizations specifically dedicated to eSports. Other typical sources for information include video game developer's websites, websites of professional teams, and independent community websites. However, in the mid-2010s, mainstream sports and news reporting websites, such as ESPN, Yahoo!, Sport1, Kicker, and Aftonbladet started dedicated eSports coverage.[145][146]

eSports tournaments commonly use commentators or casters to provide live commentary of games in progress, similar to a traditional sports commentator. For popular casters, providing commentary for eSports can be a full-time position by itself.[147] Prominent casters for StarCraft II include Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski and Nick "Tasteless" Plott.

Internet live streaming

Many eSports events are streamed online to viewers over the internet. With the shutdown of the Own3d streaming service in 2013, Twitch is by far the most popular streaming service for eSports, competing against other providers such as Hitbox.tv, Azubu, and YouTube Gaming.[148][149] Dreamhack Winter 2011 reached 1.7 million unique viewers on Twitch.[150] While coverage of live events usually brings in the largest viewership counts, the recent popularization of streaming services has allowed individuals to broadcast their own gameplay independent of such events as well. Individual broadcasters can enter an agreement with Twitch or hitbox in which they receive a portion of the advertisement revenue from commercials which run on the stream they create.[151]

Another major streaming platform was Major League Gaming's MLG.tv.[152] The network, which specializes in Call of Duty content but hosts a range of gaming titles, has seen increasing popularity, with 1376% growth in MLG.tv viewership in Q1 of 2014.[153] The 2014 Call of Duty: Ghosts broadcast at MLG's X Games event drew over 160,000 unique viewers.[154] The network, like Twitch, allows users to broadcast themselves playing games, though only select individuals can use the service. For several years, MLG.tv was the primary streaming platform for the Call of Duty professional scene; famous players such as NaDeSHoT and Scump have signed contracts with the company to use its streaming service exclusively.[155] Upon MLG's acquisition by Activision in 2016, the new company announced a revamp of the streaming service.[156]

YouTube also relaunched its livestreaming platform with a renewed focus on live gaming and eSports specifically.[157]

For The International 2014, coverage was also simulcast on ESPN's streaming service ESPN3.[158]

In June 2016, Facebook announced it would be partnering with Activision Blizzard to bring live coverage of Overwatch events on its streaming service.[159]

Television

StarCraft match televised on MBCGame in Seoul, South Korea

Especially since the popularization of streaming in eSports, organizations no longer prioritize television coverage, preferring online streaming websites such as Twitch. Ongamenet continues to broadcast as an eSports channel in South Korea, but MBCGame was taken off the air in 2012. Riot Games' Dustin Beck stated that "TV's not a priority or a goal",[160] and DreamHack's Tomas Hermansson said "eSports have a proven record to be successful on internet streaming only."[sic][161]

On the night before the finals of The International 2014 in August, ESPN3 broadcast a half-hour special profiling the tournament.[158] In 2015, ESPN2 broadcast Heroes of the Dorm, the grand finals of the Heroes of the Storm collegiate tournament. The first-place team from the University of California, Berkeley received tuition for each of the teams players, paid for by Blizzard and Tespa.[162] The top four teams won gaming equipment and new computers. This was the first time an eSport had ever been broadcast on a major American television network. The broadcast was an attempt to broaden the appeal of eSports by reaching viewers who would not normally come across it. However, the broadcast was met with a few complaints. Those living outside of the United States were unable to view the tournament. Additionally, the tournament could not be viewed online via streams, cutting off a large portion of viewers from the main demographic in the process.[163]

In September 2015, Turner Broadcasting partnered with WME/IMG. In December 2015, the partnered companies announced two seasons of the ELeague, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league based in North America including 15 teams from across the world competing for a $1,200,000 prize pool each 10-week season. The tournament, filmed in Turner studios, is simultaneously streamed on online streaming websites and TBS on Friday nights.[164]

In January 2016, Activision Blizzard, publishers of the Call of Duty and StarCraft series, acquired Major League Gaming. In an interview with The New York Times about the purchase, Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick explained that the company was aspiring to create a U.S. cable network devoted to eSports, which he described as "the ESPN of video games". He felt that higher quality productions, more in line with those of traditional sports telecasts, could help to broaden the appeal of eSports to advertisers. Activision Blizzard had hired former ESPN and NFL Network executive Steve Bornstein to be CEO of the company's eSports division.[165]

TV 2, the largest private television broadcaster in Norway, broadcasts eSports across the country. TV 2 partnered with local Norwegian organization House of Nerds to bring a full season of eSports competition with an initial lineup of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and StarCraft II.[166][167]

In April 2016, Big Ten Network announced a collaboration with Riot to hold an invitational League of Legends competition between two universities from the collegiate Big Ten Conference.[168]

See also

References

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