[GAMBIT-UROPS-summon] Friday Games 04/22/11 - A History of eSports

[Matthew J Weise]

This week at Friday Games Owen Macindoe will lead a discussion on the history of
eSports, the viability of pro gaming in the west, designing games as eSports,
and the presentation of eSports in Korea and the west.

Owen says:

Over the last ten years in South Korea, Blizzard Entertainment's Starcraft:
Brood War has drawn crowds of as many as 100,000 spectators to watch players
compete at the highest level of competition for prizes of up to US$50,000.

An entire industry has developed in Korea around competitive video gaming, also
known as eSports, with professional gamers able to make a living from
tournament winnings and sponsorship deals in a manner comparable to regular
athletes, and with matches screening on prime time television. Large,
competitive video game tournaments have also existed in the western gaming
circles for more than 20 years and international tournaments with large cash
prizes have existed for more 10, but eSports has yet to have the impact in the
west that its has enjoyed in Korea.

Driven by the release of Starcraft 2 in July 2010, the visibility of eSports in
the west has dramatically grown over the past year, with the number of
tournaments and the size of the prize pools involved reaching a level that
matches the Korean scene. The recently launched North American Star League and
the upcoming IGN Pro League, both inspired by Korean Starcraft leagues, are the
latest in a series of high profile tournaments that aim to both grow the
audience of eSports and make pro gaming a viable profession in the west.

Cottage industries of commentating on games, coaching aspiring players, and
streaming matches from a first person perspective have recently also become
viable means of supporting pro gamers. It seems like after many years of
languishing in relative obscurity, eSports is finally poised to break through
into the mainstream in Europe and North America.

Join us at 4pm in the GAMBIT lounge. As always there will be cookies and
veggies.