History of eSports

Cybersport is a sport based on competitive activities using video games. It may also be referred to as computer or electronic sports.

The beginnings of the history of cybersports

In the 1970s, Stanford University hosts the first competition on the computer game Spacewar. This event took place in one of the university’s computer labs, and the first participants and spectators were lured there by free beer. In 1980, about ten thousand gamers from the United States competed in the Space Invaders championship.

In the 1980s, eSports was mainly based on the newly emerging gaming consoles. Since the release of Nintendo and Sega Genesis, many companies began to invest solidly in the cause of introducing people to video games.

A major breakthrough in the spread of computer games in the 90’s, the emergence of the Internet has given a major boost in the development of video games. Participants were able to hold competitions with each other in Quake or Warcraft.

Rapid development of eSports

In 90s, a whole series of tournaments took place, professional leagues such as Cyberathlete Professional League, Professional Gamers League appeared. Their goal is to spread eSports around the world, regularly holding competitions on the most popular games Counter-Strike and Quake.

In South Korea in the early 2000s there was a real boom in cybersports. Students, schoolchildren and the entire young population are choosing Internet cafes as their favorite place to relax. South Korea is one of the first countries to systematize eSports on a legislative level.

International level competition

Every year there are eSports competitions held in many countries around the world. Games are broadcast directly through the Internet, thus attracting a huge audience. The Olympic Games in eSports is considered to be the World Cyber Games tournament, which is held annually since 2000. Prestigious competitions are considered to be held by game manufacturers – The International on Dota 2 or the World Championship on League of legends.
In 2016, the World Cyber Sport Association was created.
It is expected that by 2020 the annual turnover of cybersports will exceed 5 billion dollars, which is more than in hockey or basketball.
These days, cybersport brings in a huge amount of money and spectator interest continues to grow. The largest prize pool in cybersports history was won by the Chinese team Wings Gaming in 2016 with $9.1 million, and the largest prize pool for Dota 2 was over $20 million.