Esports explained – what are they and how to get into competitive gaming

From ‘Call of Duty’ to ‘Rocket League’, there are plenty of games to watch and compete in

The Overwatch League is one of the most popular (iStock/The Independent)

To say that esports have become a global phenomenom is an understatement. Broadcasts regularly reach large audiences on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube and prize pools have only been getting bigger in size as viewership increases. But what makes a game an “esport”?

In short: esports is a catchall term that defines any videogame played at the highest level by professional players. But while there are some standout titles that are clearly popular for spectators, it can be quite a loose definition.

After all, competitive gaming has been around since arcade machines included high scores and leaderboards and while its roots are modest, its hard not to acknowledge their growing influence on popular culture.

But maybe you missed the boat and aren’t sure where to begin. Do you see yourself as a spectator or want to compete if you think you have what it takes? If that’s the case, we’ve got you covered.

If you want to find out more about esports and even how to compete then keep reading the rest of the article below.

What is esports?

Esports is an umbrella term for videogames played at a competitive and professional level. Like any sports competition, players can compete in teams against each other, often for prize money and like any other athletes, they can be contracted to play for different teams in different leagues.

There’s no standard template for what makes a game suitable for esports, but those that tend to do well are usually popular enough among amateur players as well as make a good spectator event in its own right. These events can pull in big crowds, even filling up entire stadiums with spectators, as well as being a popular category on live-streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube.

Some of the most popular genres include MOBAs (multiplayer online battle arenas) such as League of Legends or Dota 2. First-person shooters, like Call of Duty, Valorant, Overwatchand Counter-Strike are also very popular among esports fans, as are fighting games such as Street Fighter and Guilty Gear: Strive. Even battle royale games such as Fortnite can be played at a professional level.

There are even leagues for the electronic counterpart to traditional sports, such as Formula 1 and football. Chances are, if there’s a big enough audience for it, it’s competitive and fairly balanced, there’s likely to be a league for it. If Farming Simulator can be played at a professional level, then just about any game can.

Who started esports?

Esports have been around a lot longer than you might think. One of the earliest instances of a competitive electronic gaming event took place back in 1972 at Stanford University for the game Spacewar with the grand prize being...a year’s subscription to Rolling Stone magazine.

While the prize pools now are somewhat more generous, as long as arcade machines had persistent high-scores for players to beat, competitions have always provided a motivation to compete locally. During the golden age of gaming arcades, titles such as Space Invaders, Donkey Kong and Tetris became competitive titles in their own right and tournaments for those games are still held to this day.

How to start watching esports

The easiest way to start watching esports is on live-streaming services such as Twitch and YouTube. Both regularly broadcast tournaments of every esport event that happens to be filmed and nowadays, you would struggle to find an esports event that isn’t being live-streamed.

If you’re not sure what games you would enjoy, it doesn’t hurt to simply start watching a stream to see if it’s your cup of tea. If you enjoy playing games like Call of Duty, or League of Legends then likely you will enjoy watching them too, as you will be more familiar with how those games work as a player. And who knows, watching a team play at the highest competitive level might teach you a few tricks you can bring to your own games.

How to start competing in esports

First and foremost, if you think you can play a game at a competitive level then chances are you’re already quite good. If you’re not sure on what game you want to compete in – and this may seem obvious – pick one you actually enjoy playing because you will be playing it a lot.

Some games that have ranked matches, such as Fortnite, will have an in-game competitive tournament system that will rank you based on your performance in competitive game modes. This won’t be the case for every game however, as some leagues are run by a third party.

Popular third-party leagues such as Gamebattles and ESL regularly host tournaments across a number of different games and genres as well as a chance to win varying prize pools. If you’re only just starting out, then time commitments aren’t usually as strict, so you can play games when you want rather than attending scheduled matches until you start climbing your way up the ranks.

If you’re hoping to attend tournaments in person, then you’ll likely have to prove your meddle onine before you will have a chance to compete in LAN events.

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