The online gaming landscape
eSports has developed a massive global following, comprising of a hybrid of keen participants, enthusiasts and spectators. At least 30 major events –and counting- are listed as recurring annually around the world.
And, the fans are attending in droves. Forbes reports that a new record was set during the finale of the 2017 World Championship — i.e. the Intel® Extreme Masters- in Poland last year.
More than 173,000 enthusiasts –which is about 100,000 more than the Superbowl- packed the venue in Katowice, while 46 million watched online, the magazine reports.
What started as the humble “PC game” on standalone, home desktop computers during the 1980’s, has ramped up to become the almost $44 billion industry that it is today, with 2.7 billion active players around the globe.
The steep ramp-up started with the coming of the Internet two decades ago and was further fueled by the arrival of the popular game consoles. But, the catalyzer for mobile gaming was really Apple’s introduction of the iPhone and its tightly integrated App Store.
