How Has the eSports Industry Grown to a Billion-Dollar Industry?

Ever since the 80s, video games have been one of the world’s favourite pastimes, and their popularity has only grown since then. Go on Twitch and see for yourself just how many people stream themselves playing video games, skillfully or less so.

However, the main mascot for the success of the video games industry is the eSports scene. Esports is an organized video games competition, typically between professional players who compete as individuals or as teams.

Since the early 2000s, the eSports industry has raked in billions of dollars. In fact, just this past year, the Esports industry brought in a billion dollars in revenue. Even if a country bans a specific video game, which happens from time to time, fans use a proxy VPN location to bypass geo-blocking and watch eSports. That’s how successful eSports have become.

How did eSports go from a small industry focusing on one or two games to a billion-dollar industry comprised of hundreds of games? What was the catalyst for this progress?

The Rise of Video Games

As I hinted at before, video games have become a trademark pastime, with 1.82 billion people having played video games in 2014. That numbers is expected to rise to 2.7 billion by 2021, meaning video games have officially reached the same penetration into pop culture as movies, TV shows and music.

With more people playing video games, there are of course more people tuning in to watch people play competitive games. And if you’re wondering why people would care to watch others play video games… it’s for the same reason you watch athletes play sports on TV. They’re way better at it than an average person creating an engaging performance to watch.

The Power of Advertising

While I wouldn’t call video games “niche” during the early 2000s, they were far from mainstream, with a “geek” stigma looming over the industry. This stigma slowly evaporated as more eSports players became famous and earned international celebrity status. Today, eSports have the financial backing from big names in sports and entertainment, such as Drake or Michael Jordan.

I’d go as far as to say it’s not only eSports players, though. Many people have tuned into watching streamers, especially streamers who involve themselves in competitive games. Even if the streamer themselves don’t participate in eSports, their viewers will watch the game and feel tempted to tune in to the eSports scene.

To put it simply, marketing is a powerful tool. Back when the eSports scene was a new thing, the only games you found reaching any kind of success were Starcraft II and maybe Counter-Strike. Nowadays, you have hundreds of games successfully entering the eSports scene, with some games being made exclusively for eSports.

The Promise of Gain

No industry would succeed if there wasn’t the promise of profit for the people who are in, and the eSports industry is no exception. In the past, players would make just enough to make a living if they won tournaments or sold merchandise. Now? eSports competitors can become rich and famous if they prove successful. There are tournaments with cash prizes of hundreds of millions of dollars, and there’s no doubt that amount of money attracts many people to competitive eSports.

Take the streaming personality “Ninja” for example. He became a worldwide eSports celebrity literally overnight when he started playing Fortnite and has earned a fortune since. Even if his career came to a halt today, he’d have enough money to settle for the rest of his life. That’s shows how lucrative the eSports industry today.

Conclusion

There’s no denying that eSports and video games in general are firmly in the mainstream. However, it can come as a surprise to some that the eSports industry is on track to be one of the most successful industries in the world of entertainment. Especially that just a few years ago, barely anyone would watch the tournaments and there was little money to be made.

This is just the beginning, though. We’re bound to see the industry grow in fame more and more over the next few years.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.