Mr. Roo is a little obsessed with esports, as we know. With the Roobet Cup and all and the upcoming Dota2 International, he has been invested in gaming for almost the whole year! Being the ring leader that he is, obviously, he knows that esports is the trendiest online entertainment. So let's look at why esports is the biggest thing to online gambling right now.
The first-ever video game competition took place at Stanford University in 1972. Five students competed in an "Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics." The winner received a year's subscription to Rolling Stone magazine.
Spacewar was the first commercially available arcade game; others followed in its footsteps over the years until Space Invaders dominated the market. It's important to note that for these early arcade games, players were trying to get the highest score possible; later on, head-to-head gaming arrived. At any rate, the trend of getting high scores led to the earliest large-scale game competition in 1980, when more than 10,000 entrants attempted to set a high score for Space Invaders.
The history of esports took on another dimension in the '90s. One highlight was the first edition of the Nintendo World Championships held in 1990, which spanned 29 cities across the United States. It's a critical point in esports history.
Street Fighter II revolutionized competitive gaming by relying on face-to-face action. Doom's four-player deathmatch mode in 1993 paved the way for online multiplayer.
In 1997, about 2,000 entrants competed in Quake's Red Annihilation online tournament. It was one of the world's first "true" esports events, complete with teams across the United States and spectators that watched the final competitions online.
In 1998, a significant game-changer was launched into the world of gaming. Yes, we're referring to Starcraft, which was the first of its kind to introduce real-time strategic gameplay. This game changed the dynamic of gaming.
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Televised esports took the industry by storm in the 2000s. Spearheaded by the growth of events in South Korea, several other countries followed suit in the history of esports with their own programming.
Several other trends contributed to the overall dramatic growth of esports. From real-time strategy games to increases in viewership, prize money (and partnerships), dedicated tournaments, and professional leagues, the industry advanced significantly during this period in the history of esports.
It was in the early 2000s when major international tournaments and professional gaming leagues were launched, including the World Cyber Games, the Electronic Sports World Cup, and Major League Gaming (MLG). MLG is currently the largest eSports league and gives out some of the highest prize winnings. In the latter part of the decade, new games like Dota, Warcraft, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike were released. Most of these have gone on to become staples of professional gaming.
Online streaming services such as Twitch and YouTube have greatly helped bring eSports to viewers worldwide. These online streaming services are the go-to method for watching gaming competitions. In addition to online viewership, in-person spectatorship has also grown tremendously.
Huge championship events are planned and held all across the world, with thousands of supporters cheering on their favorite pros from the stands. In 2016, the famous League of Legends World Championships was held in Los Angeles, CA, in the same arena where professional basketball teams play (the Staples Center). The event had a sell-out crowd and over 43 million unique viewers.
Last year saw the biggest esports tournament ever held, with 5.41 million viewers worldwide. The Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore. The tournament consisted of 22 best teams from 14 regional series. The prize pool was $2 million. Income streams from events like these are massive, and advertising and sponsorship play a big part in the massive growth and online presence of esports.
With the ever-increasing online and streaming audience, esports looks set to explode even further into new and more lucrative territories.
With esports' growth and financial value growing into billions of dollars of revenue, more and more online casinos and sportsbooks like Roobet and others are expanding their offering of games with esports. Most decent sportsbook sites offer a full bouquet of the top 3, CS: GO, League of Legends, Dota2, and lesser-known titles like Valornat, Rainbow 6, Kings of Glory, and others.
Head to Roobet Sportsbook to catch a glimpse of all the betting markets for online esports betting!
