What is Esports?

what is

Esports?

If you’re one of the 111 million PewDiePie subscribers on YouTube, you might already be aware of how influential the gaming industry is. Esports, in many cases, is related to YouTube streaming but it is a completely different beast. Rather than a hobby, Esports has evolved into a global phenomenon. And it has had the fastest global industry growth since 2016.

What is it though?

Esports, short for Electronic sports, has been around for a long time but became mainstream in the early 2000s. The boom in personal computers and faster internet allowed competitive human nature to be transported into a virtual environment. Internet access opened multi-player games online, so you didn’t have to wait for a friend to play with you. Instead, you had the whole world waiting for you!

The industry was developed to host competitions and tournaments for the best gamers in the world. If you’re a Counter-Strike or League of Legends fan, you can see the best of the best go head-to-head in an arena, like any other sports match.

The growing industry

Since 2019, the Esports industry has grown its viewership from 397.8 million to 532 million in 2022. The increase is reflected in Esports’ global revenue. Seeing an incredible rise of almost 16% CAGR, it’s on track to generate $1.3 billion by the end of 2022 as compared to $957.5 million in 2019.

Esports is being embraced by educational institutions, supporting competitive gaming in schools, colleges and universities. Research shows that participation in school clubs and activities can improve students’ performance. From teamwork and social skills to strategic thinking and planning, playing video games and especially competitive gaming helps students manage success and failure and time management skills.

No wonder more and more colleges and universities now offer degrees in this industry. A career in the Esports industry is not limited to being a gamer but it offers jobs like coaching, managing, commentating, designing or social media managing.