eSports gaming are the form of video games that replicate real sports competition on the screen with the help of all electronic gadgets and tools! This is a common and technical definition of e-Sports or eGames. But, since the last couple of years, e-Sports have been on the tip of a broader and different global opinion whether to address it as sports or just video games? But the rapid growth and the mass influence worldwide turned itself as a ‘major sport’ now with the regular global championship tournaments and events organized all over the world – throughout the year!
I am sure you have a question tweaking in your skull that what is eSports and why do people watch it? even you might be curious to know, why are eSports being more and more popular around the globe? Today I will bring all the detailed info about eSports from its beginnings to the latest trends and events globally.
Actually, eSports gaming have long back roots, as per Wikipedia – The earliest known video game competition took place on 19 October 1972 at Stanford University for the game Spacewar. Stanford students were invited to an “Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics” whose grand prize was a year’s subscription for Rolling Stone, with Bruce Baumgart winning the five-man-free-for-all tournament and Tovar and Robert E. Maas winning the team competition. The Space Invaders Championship held by Atari in 1980 was the earliest large scale video game competition, attracting more than 10,000 participants across the United States, establishing competitive gaming as a mainstream hobby.
| You may like to know about Winning Eleven 2012 Apk
ad
eSports Gaming early timeline
- In 1980, Walter Day founded a high score record-keeping organization called Twin Galaxies.
- During 1982-1984, the first-ever Televised American show Starcade e-sports events airing a total of 133 episodes during this period. A video game tournament was included as part of TV show That’s Incredible!, and tournaments were also featured as part of the plot of various films, including 1982’s Tron. In the UK, the BBC game show First Class included competitive video game rounds featuring the contemporary arcade games, such as Hyper Sports, 720° and Paperboy.
- In 1983 the U.S. National Video Game Team created by Walter Day. The team was involved in competitions, such as running the Video Game Masters Tournament for Guinness World Records and sponsoring the North American Video Game Challenge tournament.
- The 1988 game Netrek was an Internet game for up to 16 players, written almost entirely in cross-platform open-source software. Netrek was the third Internet game, the first Internet game to use meta servers to locate open game servers, and the first to have persistent user information. In 1993 it was credited by Wired Magazine as “the first online sports game”.
- Large esports tournaments in the 1990s include the 1990 Nintendo World Championships, which toured across the United States and held its finals at Universal Studios Hollywood in California.
- in 1991 the concept of direct tournament level competition between two players started with The fighting game Street Fighter II (1991)
- Competitive multiplayer and deathmatch modes found in modern action games. The popularity of fighting games such as Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom in the 1990s led to the foundation of the international Evolution Championship Series (EVO) e-sports tournament in 1996.
- Nintendo held a 2nd World Championships in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System called the Nintendo PowerFest ’94. There were 132 finalists that played in the finals in San Diego, California. Mike Iarossi took home 1st prize. Blockbuster Video also ran its own World Game Championships in the early 1990s, co-hosted by GamePro magazine. Citizens from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Chile were eligible to compete. Games from the 1994 championships included NBA Jam and Virtua Racing.
- Television shows featuring eSports during this period included the British shows GamesMaster and Bad Influence! the Australian game show A*mazing, wherein one round contestant competed in a video game face-off, and the Canadian game show Video & Arcade Top 10.
- 2006 FUN Technologies Worldwide Web games Championship featured 71 contestants competing in casual games for a $1 million grand prize.
- In April 2006 the G7 teams federation were formed by seven prominent Counter-Strike teams. The goal of the organization was to increase stability in the eSports gaming world, particularly in standardizing player transfers and working with leagues and organizations. The founding members were 4Kings, Fnatic, Made in Brazil, Mousesports, NiP, SK-Gaming, Team 3D. The organization only lasted until 2009 before dissolving.
- About 10 tournaments in 2000 to about 260 in 2010. Many successful tournaments were founded during this period, including the World Cyber Games, the Intel Extreme Masters, and Major League Gaming. The proliferation of tournaments included experimentation with competitions outside traditional e-sports genres.
- 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, an online streaming platform launched in 2011, routinely streams popular esports competitions. In 2013, viewers of the platform watched 12 billion minutes of video on the service, with the two most popular Twitch broadcasters being League of Legends and Dota 2. During one day of The International, Twitch recorded 4.5 million unique views, with each viewer watching for an average of two hours.
- In 2014, the largest independent e-sports league, Electronic Sports League, partnered with the local brand Japan Competitive Gaming to try and grow esports in the country. In the same year, The 2014 League of Legends World Championship in Seoul, South Korea, had over 40,000 fans in attendance and featured the band Imagine Dragons, and opening and closing ceremonies in addition to the competition.
- In 2015, the first Esports Arena was launched in Santa Ana, California, as the United States’ first dedicated esports gaming facility.
| More: Top eSports software for players
What Are the Biggest Esports?
Like we mentioned at the start, the world of eSports is primarily dominated by team-based games. While some single-player tournaments do exist, such as FIFA and Starcraft, they’re not on the same scale as some of the other games out there. Also, Fortnite is technically a single-player game, but you’re playing with 99 other people so we’ll include it.
Here’s a list of the most popular e-Sports games based on prize money, competitors, and viewers in no order:
- DOTA 2: 15 million peak viewers, 59 active teams, championship prize money $35 million and rising
- Fortnite: $30 million prize money, 40 million competitors, 2 million viewers
- League of Legends: 24 teams, peak of 44 million viewers, $7 million
- CS:GO: 40+ teams, $1 million from championship but they have lots of big tournaments, 1.2 million viewers
- Overwatch: 20 teams, $5 million, 300k viewers
- PUBG: $2 million, 20 teams, 800k viewers
eSports recognition as a sport
It’s a big controversial matter of debate to recognize video games as sports. And the defenders of ‘eSports as a sport’ point to the growth in popularity of esports as justification for designating some games as sports, others contend that video gaming will never reach the status of “true sports”. However popularity is not the only reason identified: some have argued that “careful planning, precise timing, and skillful execution” ought to be what classifies an activity like sport, and that physical exertion and outdoor playing areas are not required by all traditional or non-traditional “sports”.
As per the latest esports viewers behavior analytics report In 2019, the global eSports market will likely grow to over $1 billion. Not only do tens of millions enjoy playing competitive online video games, but they also like watching other people play them.
See in the below chart, how viewers watch eSports
In a 2014 technology conference, when asked about the recent buyout of popular game streaming service Twitch, ESPN president John Skipper described esports as “not a sport – [they’re] a competition.” In 2013 on an episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel the panelist openly laughed at the topic, In addition, many in the fighting games community maintain a distinction between their competitive gaming competitions and the more commercially connected esports competitions of other genres.
Video games are sometimes classified as a mind sport. In the 2015 World Championship hosted by the International Esports Federation, an e-sports panel was hosted with guests from international sports society to discuss the future recognition of esports as a recognized, legitimate sporting activity worldwide.
China was one of the first countries to recognize esports as a real sport in 2003, despite concerns at the time that video games were addicting. Through this, the government encouraged eSport, stating that by participating in esports, players were also “training the body for China”. Further, by early 2019, China recognized esports players as an official profession within the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security’s Occupation Skill Testing Authority recommendations, as well as professional gaming operators, those that distribute and manage eSports gaming. By July 2019, more than 100,000 people had registered themselves as professional gamers under this, with the Ministry stating that they anticipate over 2 million such people in this profession in five years.
So, everyone is talking positively that the future of iGaming is highly potential in the coming years.
Countries who adopted eSports Gaming as a real sport
In the year of 2003, China is the first country that officially announced e-Sports as a real sport and from the year 2019, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security recognized esports players as an official profession, as well as professional gaming operators, those that distribute and manage esports games.
In 2013, Canadian League of Legends player Danny “Shiphtur” Le became the first pro gamer to receive an American P-1A visa, a category designated for “Internationally Recognized Athletes”.
In 2014, Turkey’s Ministry of Youth and Sports started issuing esports Player licenses to players certified as professionals.
In 2016, the French government started working on a project to regulate and recognize esports. The Games and Amusements Board of the Philippines started issuing an athletic license to Filipino esports players who are vouched by a professional esports team in July 2017.
eSports Gaming – A Growing Global Acceptance
One of the main reasons why there has been growth in eSports viewership is because more people are learning about it. There has been a tremendous rise in awareness of the eSports industry since 2015. Back then, there were slightly more than 800,000 people who had heard about it. These numbers soon changed, and by the next year, more than a billion people had learned about e-Sports.
These numbers continued to increase in the following years, by a few hundred thousand annually. By 2017, eSports awareness had risen to 1.28 billion, and it reached 1.43 billion by 2018. In 2019, an estimated 1.57 billion people are likely to learn about it. This means that viewership will likely increase as well and with that, the industry will further see revenue growth.
In conceiving a positive environment and to help promote eSports as a legitimate sport, several esports events have been run alongside more traditional international sports competitions. The 2007 Asian Indoor Games was the first notable multi-sport competition including esports as an official medal-winning event alongside other traditional sports, and the later editions of the Asian Indoor Games and its successor the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games have always included e-sports as an official medal event or an exhibition event up to now. Moreover, the Asian Games, which is the Asian top-level multi-sport competition, will also include esports as a medal event at the 2022 edition; esports around games such as Hearthstone, Starcraft II, and League of Legends were presented as an exhibition event at the 2018 Asian Games as a lead-in to the 2022 games. The 2019 Southeast Asian Games will include six medal events for e-sports.
In 2018 and 2019, World Sailing held an eSailing World Championship that showed the main sports federation embracing e-sports.
All you need to know about Video Games history, present days and the future of gaming.
eSports Gaming and Olympic
In October 2017 acknowledged the growing popularity of egaming, concluding that “Competitive ‘esports’ could be considered as a sporting activity, and the players involved prepare and train with an intensity which may be comparable to athletes in traditional sports” but would require any games used for the Olympics fitting “with the rules and regulations of the Olympic movement”.
Two difficulties remain for presenting eSports as an Olympic event according to IOC President Thomas Bach: that they would need to restrict those that present violent gameplay, and that there is currently a lack of a global sanctioning body for e-sports to coordinate further. On the issue of violence, while Bach acknowledged that many Olympic sports bore out from actual violent combat, “sport is the civilized expression about this. If you have egames where it’s about killing somebody, this cannot be brought into line with our Olympic values.” Due to that, it was suggested that the IOC would approve more of esports centered around games that simulate real sports, such as the NBA 2K or FIFA series.
Leaders in Japan are becoming involved to help bring e-sports to the 2020 Summer Olympics and beyond, given the country’s reputation as a major video game industry center. At the suggestion of the Tokyo Olympic Games Committee for the 2020 Summer Olympics, four esports organizations have worked with Japan’s leading consumer organization to exempt esports gaming tournaments from gambling law restrictions.
The first such licenses were given out in mid-July 2018, via a tournament held by several video game publishers to award prizes to many players but JeSU (Japan eSports Union) offered these exemption licenses to the top dozen or so players that emerge, allowing them to compete in further esports events. The Tokyo Olympic Committee has also planned to arrange a number of e-sports events to lead up into the 2020 games.
The organizing committee for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris was in discussions with the IOC and the various professional esport organizations to consider esports for the event, citing the need to include these elements to keep the Olympics relevant to younger generations. Ultimately, the organization committee determined e-sports were premature to bring to the 2024 Games as medal events, but have not ruled out other activities related to esports during the Games.
During the Eighth Olympic Summit in December 2019, the IOC reiterated that it would only consider sports-simulating games for any official Olympic event, but it would look at two paths for such games in the future: those that promoted good physical and mental health lifestyles, and virtual reality and augmented reality games that included physical activity.
eSports Gaming Surge In Viewership
As per the data analytics for the Q2-2019, viewership of top titles like Fortnite, League of Legends, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive declined, while vlogging — aka “Just Chatting” — grew, along with other titles.
And let’s see the global viewership statistics. Early in 2016, there has been a significant increase in eSports viewers – both occasional viewers and enthusiasts i.e. viewers who watch it regularly. Between 2016 and 2017, there was a 19.3% increase year over year. In 2017, there were 192 million casual viewers and 143 million enthusiasts, making the total audience 335 million.
Later in the year 2018, the year-over-year growth rate had slightly dropped at 13.8% although that’s still a sizeable increase. In 2018, there were 215 million occasional viewers and 165 million enthusiasts. So the total audience size grew to 380 million.
On 28th September TwitchCon 2019, the Twitch rivals league of legends held at San Diego Convention Center, it received some phenomenon response with 180300 peak time viewers and set the record of 493656 hours viewership with an average 68883 viewers.
By 2021, Newzoo predicts that the annual growth rate will be approximately 14%. They also predict that the number of casual viewers will grow to 307 million. And that there will be 250 million eSports Gaming enthusiasts, making the total audience 557 million.
So you can see that there has been steady growth in eSports viewership and the trend is likely to continue in the coming years. The increase isn’t just limited to dedicated eSports fans; there seems to also be an increase in people who are viewing it casually. This is likely a result of increasing awareness about eSports and ease of access to the internet.
One of the most drastic differences over the years is the amount of time spent watching eSports videos. As more people are consuming eSports content, the hours spent watching eSports videos are also increasing every year. In 2012, people were spending only about 1.3 billion hours watching these videos.
This changed slightly and increased to 2.4 billion hours in 2013. By 2018, the increase was drastic as the number of viewers had also grown to 380 million. Last year, people watched 6.6 billion hours of eSports videos worldwide. This means that the hours spent watching eSports videos increased by about 1 billion hours each year.
Since consumers spend so much time on eSports, this means that brands need to meet them where they’re at by adopting eSports Game marketing. This could be through ads, reviews, product positioning, influencer marketing, and more.
Most popular esports tournaments by global viewership in 2018 (Data source: escharts.com)
| Tournament Name | Number of Viewers (in million hours) | Date |
| 2018 World Championship | 78.8 M | 09-23-2018 to 11-03-2018 |
| The International 2018 | 64 M | 08-15-2018 to 08-26-2018 |
| FACEIT Major London 2018 | 61.4 M | 09-05-2019 to 09-23-2018 |
| ELEAGUE Major 2018 | 49.5 M | 01-12-2018 to 01-28-2018 |
| 2018 Mid-Season Invitational | 29.2 M | 05-02-2018 to 05-20-2018 |
| EPICENTER XL | 17.4 M | 04-27-2018 to 05-06-2018 |
| China Dota2 SuperMajor | 13.9 M | 06-02-2018 to 06-10-2018 |
| The Kualalumpur Major | 13.9 M | 11-09-2018 to 11-18-2018 |
| SL i-League StarSeries Season 4 | 12 M | 02-17-2018 to 02-25-2018 |
| Dota2 Asian Championships 2018 | 11.9 M | 03-29-2018 to 04-07-2018 |
eSports Revenue Growth
Realizing the potential of tapping into the eSports Gaming market, some brands have already made significant investments in eSports marketing. So the industry saw an impressive increase in revenue in the past years.
According to the previously cited Newzoo analysis, there has been an average revenue increase of more than 30% annually. And a large portion of it resulted from brand contributions. In 2016, the total eSports revenue was $493 million, out of which $350 million came from brand investments. This increased by 33% year over year in 2017, where the total revenue was $655 million, and brand investments contributed to $468 million of this.
In 2018, the average year-on-year increase in total revenue was at an impressive 38.2%. The eSports industry made a total of $906 million in revenue. Out of this, $694 million came from brand investments – both direct and indirect. That’s a 48% increase in brand investment from the previous year. Newzoo predicts that by 2021, eSports will generate more than $1.6 billion in total revenue with $1.3 billion coming from brand investments.
Platforms Offering Live eSports Coverage
It’s no surprise that more people are watching eSports videos and events considering how online platforms are simplifying eSports content consumption. eSports streamers use these platforms to broadcast live coverage of events and their own gameplay. This makes it easier for fans to participate in their favorite events and engage with their favorite eSports athletes.
So you can see an increase in the number of viewers and broadcasters on these platforms as well. Although not all the viewers and broadcasters on these platforms are relevant to the eSports Gaming industry, this increase still likely affects the industry as well.
Twitch and YouTube lead the race with 1.13 million active streamers and 432,000 active streamers per quarter respectively, according to a Streamlabs analysis. Twitch has also seen a steady increase in the number of people who view live streams through the platform. While there were about 591,809 average concurrent viewers in 2016, the number is expected to increase to 1.28 million in 2019 according to TwitchTracker.
TwitchTracker also reported that the average monthly unique broadcasters on the platform grew by 70% in 2018. This year, there has been a 36% increase in monthly streamers so far with 4.6 million streaming on the platform each month. And the top Twitch streamer has more than 51,000 subscribers.
The platform has also seen a steady increase in the number of channels simultaneously broadcasting live. This number increased by 67% in 2018 with 41,100 average concurrent live channels. In 2019, the increase so far has been 37%, with 56,700 average concurrent live channels. So there is a ton of activity on these platforms, signifying that eSports fans are highly active and engaged with relevant content.
You may have Twitch Desktop free to watch eSports online.
| Name of Streaming Platform | Region Covered | Website |
| Twitch | International | www.twitch.tv |
| YouTube | International | www.youtube.com/gaming |
| Mixer | International | www.mixer.com |
| VK | CIS | www.vk.com/video |
| Smashcast | International | www.smashcast.tv |
| Openrec.tv | Japan | www.openrec.tv |
| Steam.tv | International | www.steam.tv |
| GoodGame | CIS | www.goodgame.ru |
| International | www.facebook.com/watch | |
| AfreecaTv | International | www.afreecatv.com |
eSports Tournaments Platforms
There are currently thousands of daily esports tournaments being hosted on a multitude of new and exciting platforms online. Each giving you the opportunity to follow your dreams by battling it out for real cash and prizes.
| Name | Popular Games |
| 1. Gamersaloon.com | Madden NFL 20, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Blackout, WWE 2k19, Pro Evolution Soccer 2019, League of Legends, Tekken 7, Fifa 19, and many more! |
| 2. Toornament.com | PUBG Mobile, Fortnite, Fifa 20, Counter-Strike: Go, League of Legends, PES 2020, Overwatch, Apex Legends, Clash Royale, And more. |
| WorldGaming.com | Rocket League, Apex Legends, Fortnite, Super Smash Bros, FIFA20, PES20, CS:GO, NHL 20, Forza Motorsport 7, Dota 2, Hearthstone, and more. |
| 4. Battlefy.com | League of Legends, PUBG, Call of Duty: Black OPS, Fortnite, Shadowverse, Clash Royale, HearthStone, OverWatch, and many more. |
| 5. UMGgaming.com | Fortnite, GOF5, COD: MWR, Splitgate, Madden 20, Fifa 19, PUBG, Rocket League, Counter-Strike: GO, NHL 20, Apex legends, and many more! |
| 6. XYgaming.com | DOTA 2, StarCraft, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, and more to be added. |
| 7. Mogul.gg | PUBG, Apex Legends, Fortnite, Arena of Valor, Super Smash Bros, League of legends, NBA2K19, CS:GO, Call of Duty, Dota 2, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and more! |
| 8. Players’lounge.com | Fortnite, Madden, NBA 2K, Apex Legends, FIFA, Call of Duty, MLB The Show, NHL, and more. |
| 9. Gamerzarena.com | Rocket League, Arcade games, GTA V, Fortnite, PUBG, Overwatch, And more. |
| 10. Proplayers.eu
|
Fifa 20, Fornite, Rocket League, Street Fight V, PES 19, Apex legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Tekken 7, and more! |
Major eSports Tournaments in 2020
eGaming or video gaming has become a spectator sport, with tens of thousands of people attending the biggest eSports events. While some recurring eSports championships have disappeared over the years, most of the most significant annual eSports events will be back in 2020. There are more eSports tournaments today than ever before. Here we have a list of 10 major eSports Gaming Tournaments in the coming year – 2020.
1) BlizzCon 2020
BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch. The first BlizzCon was held in October 2005 and since then all of the conventions have been held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.
BlizzCon is probably the best-known gaming convention in the world. As well as previews for new games and live concerts, BlizzCon offers the opportunity to watch the championships of blizzard games live.
Schedule: 6 Nov 2020 at 00:00 – 7 Nov 2020 at 03:00 PST
Venue: Convention Center 800 W Katella Ave, Anaheim, California 92706
2) Capcom cup
Fans of traditional fighting games may be happy to know that Capcom offers a live esports tournament for their games. Since 2013, Capcom has organized a 16-32 player live tournament for its best competitors.
Schedule: 20th December 2020.
Venue: Paris
3) Fortnite world cup
As Fortnite is one of the most popular games in existence, it is no surprise that the games’ world championship offers an enormous amount of money to its winners. The winners of the 2019 tournament won more than $30,000,000 worth of prizes.
Schedule: 26-28 July 2020.
Venue: New York
4) International eSports Federation World Championships
Unlike most other eSports tournaments, the competing teams represent their countries. Founded in 2008, the International eSports Federation aims to allow countries to compete with each other in eSports as they do in the Olympics. In the late 2000s, esports leagues in South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Germany, and a few other European countries worked together to create the league. World championships have been held every year since 2008, usually in South Korea or Taiwan. The games played at the world championships vary from one year to another, with first-person shooters, MOBAs, and fighting games all being featured.
Schedule: November 2020.
Venue: Ice Mall, Eilat – Israel.
5) Call of duty league
While players have played the Call of Duty games for large prizes for years, there has not yet been an official Call of Duty tournament. Activision plans to change that, and in 2020 will be hosting the first official Call of Duty championship. At least $6,000,000 worth of prizes will be given away to the greatest players of the best known first-person shooter series.
Schedule:
FRI, JAN 24 – SUN, JAN 26 | MINNEAPOLIS, MN
SAT, FEB 8 – SUN, FEB 9 | LONDON, ENGLAND
SAT, FEB 22 – SUN, FEB 23 | ATLANTA, GA
SAT, FEB 29 – SUN, MAR 1 | PARIS, FRANCE
FRI, MAR 6 – SUN, MAR 8 | LOS ANGELES, CA
SAT, MAR 14 – SUN, MAR 15 | NEW YORK, NY
SAT, MAR 21 – SUN, MAR 22 | TORONTO, CANADA
SAT, MAR 28 – SUN, MAR 29 | DALLAS , TX
SAT, APR 4 – SUN, APR 5 | CHICAGO, IL
SAT, APR 11 – SUN, APR 12 | ORLANDO, FL
SAT, APR 18 – SUN, APR 19 | SEATTLE, WA
DATES: TO BE ANNOUNCED | LOCATION: TO BE ANNOUNCED
SAT, MAY 9 – SUN, MAY 10 | MINNEAPOLIS, MN
SAT, MAY 16 – SUN, MAY 17 | PARIS, FRANCE
SAT, MAY 23 – SUN, MAY 24 | SEATTLE, WA
SAT, MAY 30 – SUN, MAY 31 | ATLANTA, GA
SAT, JUN 6 – SUN, JUN 7 | NEW YORK, NY
FRI, JUN 12 – SUN, JUN 14 | LOS ANGELES, CA
SAT, JUN 20 – SUN, JUN 21 | LONDON, ENGLAND
SAT, JUN 27 – SUN, JUN 28 | CHICAGO, IL
SAT, JUL 4 – SUN, JUL 5 | DALLAS, TX
SAT, JUL 18 – SUN, JUL 19 | TORONTO, CANADA
SAT, JUL 25 – SUN, JUL 26 | MIAMI, FL
DATES: TO BE ANNOUNCED | LOCATION: TO BE ANNOUNCED
6) Rocket League championship
After Rocket League developers, Psyonix noticed that many people watched Rocket League matches on twitch.tv, they realized they should create an eSports Gaming tournament for their game. To qualify for the championship, a player must win a regional competition against other players from Oceania, North America, South America, or Europe. Only the world finals are played in front of a live audience; the regional games are played online. The prizes for winning the Rocket League championship are not nearly as large as the prizes for being the best in the world at Fortnite. However, the prizes have increased over the years, from only $55,000 in 2013 to $1,000,000 in 2019.
The schedule that corresponds to each Tournament phase is outlined in this Section (such period referred to herein as the “Tournament Period”).
Regional Dates
North American Regional
- Open Qualifier 1 (January 18, 2020)
- Open Qualifier 2 (January 20, 2020)
- Open Qualifier 3 (January 22, 2020)
- Open Qualifier 4 January 25, 2020)
- Rival Series Play-In (February 1, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 1 (February 1, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 1 (February 7, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 2 (February 8, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 2 (February 14, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 3 (February 15, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 3 (February 21, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 4 (February 22, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 4 (February 28, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 5 (February 29, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 5 (March 6, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 6 (March 7, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 6 (March 13, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 7 (March 14, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 7 (March 20, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 8 (March 21, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 8 (March 27, 2020)
- North American Regional Championship (March 28, 2020)
- Promotion Tournament (April 11, 2020)
European Regional
- Open Qualifier 1 (January 19, 2020)
- Open Qualifier 2 (January 21, 2020)
- Open Qualifier 3 (January 23, 2020)
- Open Qualifier 4 (January 26, 2020)
- Rival Series Play-In (February 2, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 1 (February 2, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 1 (February 7, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 2 (February 9, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 2 (February 14, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 3 (February 16, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 3 (February 21, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 4 (February 23, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 4 (February 28, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 5 (March 1, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 5 (March 6, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 6 (March 8, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 6 (March 13, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 7 (March 15, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 7 (March 20, 2020)
- RLCS League Play – Week 8 (March 22, 2020)
- European Regional Championship (March 29, 2020)
- Rival Series League Play – Week 8 (March 27, 2020)
- Promotion Tournament (April 12, 2020)
World Championship Dates
More information on the World Championship will be announced at a later date.
7) League of Legends World Championship
In 2020, Riot Games will host the next League of Legends world championship in China. League of Legends is one of the most-watched games in the world, with many of the best players making a lot of money merely by streaming their games. Prizes tend to be over 2 million dollars. The 2020 League of Legends World Championship will involve 24 different teams from 14 different countries. Qualification for the League of Legends world championship is initially online and starts long before the tournament. League of legends has aged well and continues to boast a large player base after all of these years.
Schedule: Yet to announce (2020)
Venue: Shanghai, China.
8) FIFA eWorld Cup
The FIFA world cup, more or less, involves millions of competitors. The lowest levels of the competition take place online and can be participated in by anyone. After millions of players are gradually eliminated, the remaining few compete with each other in a live final tournament. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the FIFA eWorld Cup is the largest gaming tournament in the world because so many people participate in its first stages. With modern technology, it is possible for players to compete with each other even though they play on two different consoles. The dates and locations of the 2020 finals are not yet known. In 2019, 2018, and 2017 the matches were all held in August. Mohammed Harkous, Mossad Aldossoury, and Spencer Ealing won the 2019 championships. While the contest sometimes takes place in North America, it most commonly takes place in Europe.
Schedule: Yet to announce (2020)
Venue: Not yet announced
9) PUBG Global Championship 2020
Player Unknowns’ Battlegrounds, the second best-known battle royale game after Fortnite, also offers an annual tournament with a $1,000,000 prize for first place. Nine different regions produce local champions, who then compete with each other in the final live match. PUBG Championships take place in multiple cities. The live competition is not limited to the final match. Last years’ final match took place in Oakland, where it will take place in 2020 has not yet been announced.
Tencent unveiled its esports gaming plans for 2020. The overall prize pool in 2020 will be over $5 million.
Schedule: Yet to announce (2020)
Venue: Yet to announce
10) Evo 2020 Championship Series
The most prestigious of all fighting game championships, the Evolution Championship Series, determines the top players in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Tekken 7, and the newest Super Smash Bros, Mortal Combat and Soul Kalibur games. Part of the appeal of the Evo Championship is that attendants have a chance of being able to play fighting games against the worlds’ top players. An attendant is not likely to win – but it could be an exciting experience to know the skill levels of the best players better than one can by merely watching them. Many people who knew each other only online meet each other in person at the Evo Championship Series for the first time. Ticket holders can book hotel rooms at discounted rates in advance during this high octane eSports Gaming event.
Schedule: July 31 – August 2, 2020
Venue: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
Conclusion: So the eSports gaming and its upcoming future are very bright and we may witness a surge in technologies in this industry. AI and VR already pushed the market on the top gear, even the ease of internet, increasing data speed, the 3d technology and animation will also share their contribution to boosting the demand for eSports. Overall, eSports gaming would rock the world!
Information Source: newzoo, escharts, and statista
ad
Comments are closed.