Video games are a popular pastime for people across the globe, with many people using games as a way to escape the stresses of everyday life. With the use of modern day technologies, many people are now also using video gaming as a way to socialise with people from different walks of life, including those on the other side of the globe.
Yet, a new type of video gamer has emerged in recent years – the competitive gamer. As streaming technologies have become more widely accessible, people have begun to record and live stream their gaming experience, inspiring more and more players across the globe.
Below, we’ll explore what inspires gamers to switch from playing for fun to playing competitively.
Types of competitive gaming
Today, there are a huge range of e-games available to keep all kinds of personalities entertained. There’s something for everyone despite their experience level. One of the great things about online gaming is that people can take part and develop their skills anonymously and in the privacy of their own space. In comparison, when learning a new sport or skill, often people must learn in the presence of others which can be a deterrent to developing a new skill.
Some of the different types of competitive gaming include:
Fighting games – Games such as Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II are amongst some of the most popular fighting games around. Fighting games involve two players competing against each other in combat until one player is eliminated from the fight.
Poker – Poker has become one of the most mainstream competitive e-games in recent years, with free online poker games enabling more and more people to try out poker and develop their skills easily. So much so that many hobbyist gamers are now becoming professional poker players.
Sports games – As e-sports becomes more popular, many players are now playing for a living rather than just for fun. Such competitive esports include baseball, basketball, football and soccer. Prizes for e-sports can amount to more than $1 million.
Real time strategy – Real time strategy games involve multiple players competing simultaneously. Some of the main elements of such games include buildings, different technologies and resources.
Online battle arena – Online battle arena games involve two different teams that compete against each other until the other team is overwhelmed. Each player in the game usually has a unique ability that helps their team. Some of the most popular online battle arena games include League of Legends, Dota 2 and Battlerite.
The history of competitive gaming
Today’s gaming landscape is vastly different from that of 10 years ago, in which it has gone from being mostly a form of entertainment, to a way of making an income. As time has become more valuable and much harder to find, many people are valuing jobs that come with increased flexibility, the option to work from wherever and whenever they like, and the opportunity to make more money than your traditional 9-5 job.
Competitive gaming first began to be developed in the early 1970’s when an event at the University of Stanford inspired students from multiple disciplines to compete in an open battle called the Vintage Spacewar Game. Unlike today’s competitive online games, this game had no prize money but instead offered a one year free subscription to the legendary Rolling Stone magazine.
Even though the event was not an official esports event, it was something new in the world of gaming and many people were inspired to start their own online gaming battles. Since then there have been major competitive gaming events, including a recent Space Invaders championship, in which over 10,000 players participated.
The increase in popularity of competitive gaming
(A man wearing white headphones, playing a video game)
Today, video games are accessible to a much wider range of people, including women and people of all different ages. As a result, more people are able to develop their video gaming abilities than before.
In addition, today there is a much wider range of video games to choose from, taking the industry to a whole new level. There’s so many genres and subgenres available that there’s a type of game for everybody’s interests.
Overall, the competitive gaming industry has become huge in recent years, with more and more people now choosing to play for money rather than purely for entertainment. Thanks to the latest developing technologies, competitive gaming is becoming more sociable and more interactive than ever before. One thing is for sure that the competitive gaming industry is showing no time of slowing down any time soon.
