The way that eSports works is that it is a competition where a team plays another team in an arena or online within a certain game. It is commonly a bracket system where if a team loses to another team, they are eliminated from the competition and the winning team proceeds to play against another team that has beaten their opponent.
Members of eSports teams work day in and day out to be the best that they can be. It is reported that a team in Korea practices a game 12 hours a day with only taking one or two days off a month.
The most popular eSports are MOBAs, or multiplayer online battle arenas. This kind of game involves a team of at least five people that face off against another team using characters within the game and working together to best the opposing team. The most popular of these games are League of Legends and DOTA 2.
These games aren’t merely played for fun. There is often a cash reward put on these competitions for the winning teams. The current prize pool for the International is over 10 million dollars.
The popularity of eSports has skyrocketed within recent years. Mainstream media has even picked up on some of the events. For example, ESPN 2 had streamed a competition of Heroes of the Storm on their channel. Also in 2016, there were more people watching a League of Legends championship than there were people watching the NBA finals.
Not only is there televised presence, but thousands of people flood into the stands of live arenas to watch these competitors play the game and surround themselves with members of the same community.
The eSports community is rapidly growing in its fan base and does not seem to be stopping anytime soon. This can only lead to bigger and better things for the future of eSports.
