Esports, or electronic sports, has come a long way from university competitions to large-scale international tournaments with multi-million dollar prize pools.
📜 The Beginning: 1970s–1980s The first known video game tournament took place in 1972 at Stanford University. Participants competed in the game Spacewar!, and the winner received a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine and a case of beer.
In 1980, Atari organized a Space Invaders Championship, which was attended by over 10,000 people. This event became the first mass video game tournament.
💻 Development: 1990s–2000s With the advent of the internet and local area networks, esports began to actively develop. In 1997, the first professional league, the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL), was founded, which held tournaments in games such as Quake and Counter-Strike.
In 2000, South Korea experienced a real esports boom, especially thanks to the popularity of the game StarCraft. Tournaments were broadcast on television, and professional players became national stars.
🌍 Modern Era: 2010s–2020s Modern esports includes many disciplines, such as Dota 2, League of Legends, CS:GO, and others. Tournaments gather millions of viewers worldwide, and prize pools reach tens of millions of dollars.
In 2011, Valve held the first The International tournament for Dota 2, with a prize pool of $1 million. Since then, this tournament has become one of the most prestigious in the world of esports.
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