Electronic sports, or esports, are games that involve competitions between people and computers online. These events are often watched by the public. Esports can include a wide variety of genres, from shooters to battle royales.
Unlike traditional sports, esports involve no physical limitations. In addition to playing, esports players are trained to improve their game skills. They must also learn to perform at high levels while sitting on a chair. The rules of esports must conform to the guidelines of the International Olympic Committee. Its President, Thomas Bach, recognizes the challenge of eSports and believes it can help bring the sport into the mainstream.
The esports industry is growing rapidly. It is expected to reach $1 billion by 2021. This market has many opportunities for companies and clubs. Players can make a living competing in esports, and some of them are even salaried. A professional player can earn a significant salary and draw a large audience.
eSports are organized into leagues and tournaments. Participants compete in these events to win prizes and gain sponsors’ support. Most esports are live streamed on free platforms. Tournaments can feature hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money. Typically, these tournaments attract more than a million concurrent viewers.
Depending on the game, the competitive scene will evolve over time. The esports community will grow with the support of developers and gamers. Generally, most games have ranked modes, which allow the top performers to move on to the competitive stage. Some games have different rules in ranked mode than they do in the standard game.
Although esports are played online, the infrastructure required to make these events successful requires dedicated servers. Servers are located in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and players in Africa can connect to those networks. If a server fails, the match is paused until the problem is resolved. Lag is a debilitating factor in user experience and can be caused by crowded networks or distance from a server.
Athletes in esports have to be well-trained and have access to all of the necessary tools. In addition, they must be able to make a living competing. Because of this, they can be attractive corporate sponsorship options.
One of the biggest challenges for esports is overcoming the lack of an international infrastructure. While the majority of esports developers haven’t developed serious infrastructure in Africa, they do have the ability to set up a European or North American server. But the demand for these services is not yet large enough to make it worth it for them to set up an African server.
A major reason for this is that most developers don’t care to open an African server for their games. If their games aren’t popular in the African market, they can choose to shutter their online gaming platform and cut monetary losses.
Despite the risks, esports are quickly becoming a major phenomenon. There are hundreds of millions of people watching these events and millions more playing them. As more and more people discover this new form of entertainment, it will continue to grow.
