Esport - Borup og Lønsmann

1. History

1.1. The earliest known video game competition took place on 19 October 1972 at Stanford University for the game Spacewar

1.2. During the 2010s, eSports grew tremendously, incurring a large increase in both viewership and prize money

1.3. Television coverage was best established in South Korea, with StarCraft and Warcraft III

1.4. The popularity and emergence of online streaming services have helped the growth of eSports in this period, and are the most common method of watching tournaments. Twitch

1.5. In 2014, the largest independent eSports league, Electronic Sports League, partnered with the local brand Japan Competitive Gaming to try and grow eSports in the country.

2. Classification as a sport

2.1. The 2007 Asian Indoor Games was the first notable multi-sport competition including eSports as an official medal-winning event alongside other traditional sports

2.2. In the 2015 eSports World Championship hosted by the International e-Sports Federation, an eSports panel was hosted with guests from international sports society to discuss the future recognition of eSports as a recognized, legitimate sporting activity worldwide.

2.3. The 2007 Asian Indoor Games was the first notable multi-sport competition including eSports as an official medal-winning event alongside other traditional sports

3. Games

3.1. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty, League of Legends, Dota 2, Smite, Rocket League, World of Tanks, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, Super Smash Bros. Melee, StarCraft II and Overwatch.

3.2. In the 2000s, real-time strategy games became overwhelmingly popular in South Korean internet cafés, with crucial influence on the development of eSports worldwide

4. Tournamentst

4.1. For well established games, total prize money can amount to millions of U.S. dollars a year.

4.2. League of Legends awarded approximately $30 million within 1749 registered tournaments, but in addition to the prize money, Riot Games provides salaries for players within their League of Legends Championship Series