There’s been a huge surge in interest in eSports in recent years. Indeed, take a look at the numbers surrounding the activity, and you’ll see that eSports is performing well in both number of viewers and revenue, and it’s likely to continue rising in the years to come. While the rapid rise in popularity may seem surprising, once you dig under the surface, you’ll find that it should be expected. Today, viewers can easily tune into professional competitions, use free bet offers to back outsiders to win, and find fellow-minded fans with whom they can enjoy the action, in much the same way as fans of “traditional sports” do. The level of respect that outsiders have for eSports is growing all the time, too.

In this blog, we’ll dive a little deeper into the many reasons why eSports is taking off — and why its rise may be unstoppable.

Video Content

If there’s one website that can take credit for the success of eSports, it’s Twitch, the platform that allows gamers to stream their video game performance. eSports tournaments were a natural progression from amateur streaming, since there was clearly a market for this type of content. Video content in general has been growing in popularity in recent years (around 80% of internet traffic is due to video streaming), and with so many people enjoying this type of entertainment, it’s normal that an exciting and easy-to-watch activity like eSports found an audience.

Professional Tournaments

The biggest shift that helped to legitimize eSports was the transition from amateur video content to professional tournaments. Today, multiple tournaments are held throughout the year under formats that mirror “real-world sport” tournaments. These professional events are often held in front of a live audience, while viewers can tune in from home, root for their favorites, or bet on who they think will win. Even though these types of tournaments have only been around for a small number of years, the presentation, professionalism, and excitement is beginning to mirror those of traditional sporting competitions.

Companies Are Investing

An activity needs to reach the mainstream if it’s going to experience long-term success. And that’s just what we’re beginning to see with eSports. A number of large, international corporations have begun investing in the eSports industry, including Adidas and McDonald’s, not to mention all of the world’s biggest gaming companies. This helps to, first, legitimize eSports, but perhaps more significantly, it brings an influx of cash into the industry, which in turn helps to produce better, more engaging content. With viewing numbers expected to grow in the coming years, more companies will begin to invest, and from there, the industry will be in a positive loop cycle. 

Easy to Access 

It’s possible that real sports will face engagement problems in the years to come. This is because they’re often failing to attract younger fans, who are typically priced out of attending events in real life. eSports can help to fill that gap since you rarely, if ever, need to pay anything to watch. This makes it a highly inclusive form of entertainment. People are more likely to watch tournaments of an activity that they do themselves, too, and today more people play video games than play sports (or, at least, they play video games much more often than they do sports). 

What Does The Future Hold?

eSports isn’t one for the future. It’s popular right now, with hundreds of millions of people tuning into the action each year. In the years to come, it’s highly possible that this market will continue to grow and develop, especially since it’s receiving considerable investment from various sources. There may be an upper limit to the amount of growth that eSports can experience, but in any case, it’s unlikely that it’ll be going away anytime soon. And with things like VR and the metaverse presenting new opportunities for fan engagement, it’s fair to say that the next decade could be seminal for the eSports industry.