We are back once again to tell the history of eSports, this time from the golden 90s to modern times. And of course, you can join us in the world of eSports betting in the best way possible if you get original Pinnacle account without limits, ACC-EX.

The 80s: The Dawn of Competitive Gaming

As we mentioned last time, in the early 80s, Atari held the Space Invaders Championship, an event that attracted over 10,000 players and helped raise the popularity of video games. As the 0s wore on, many companies that recorded high scores started to appear. One of them was Twin Galaxies, a company that promoted video games and publicized high scores and records on publications like Guinness Book of World Records.

In 1988 the first multiplayer computer game appeared, it was called Netrek, and it could host up to 16 players competing against each other via the Internet. It was a real-time strategy game in the Star Trek universe, and, at this point in time, it was played mostly by computer scientists, because scientific institutions had access to the early Internet.

The 90s: The Internet Changes the Game

In the 1990s we saw the rise of the internet, and it did for gaming the same that it did for instant messaging, connecting gamers through the web, and making online competitive gaming possible. With that also came the growth in popularity of PC games, and companies like Nintendo and Blockbuster began sponsoring video game world championships. As the decade moved on, it became clear that the future of competitive gaming was on PC.

In 1997, the Red Annihilation tournament for Quake dew about 2000 participants. This was the world’s first official eSports event. As the grand prize, the winner also got to drive off in John Cormack’s (lead developer of Quake) Ferrari! The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL), a leading major gaming league, was created a few weeks later and their first tournament was held later that year. Money prizes also began to increase, like the $15,000 prize money offered by CPL for one of their tournaments in the next year for example.

The early 2000s: The Rise of modern eSports

In the year 200, the first World Cyber Games (WCG) were held here in Seoul, South Korea. In 2003 the first "Electronic Sports World Cup" (ESWC) was held in Poitiers, France. While the initial focus was on PC games, console titles were gradually added to the competition.

The "CPL World Tour" (Cyberathlete Professional League) of 2005 was the first eSports event to offer a prize of one million dollars. The series took place in ten cities around the world and ended with a finale in New York, broadcasted live by MTV. The winner of the tour was Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager, who won a prize of over 250,000 US dollars and the winner of the final was the American Johnathan "Fatal1ty"Wendel.

The Modern Times

In the 2010s the rise of streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch brought renewed growth to the industry. eSports would not have attained the scale of popularity that it has today without streaming platforms allowing anyone, anywhere in the world, to connect right into the action from their homes, and enable video game streamer celebrities to develop fanbases and followings. Major eSports events began to be streamed and viewership skyrocketed into the millions, creating more awareness and engagement like never before.

Money prizes also keep growing, in 2017, the total eSports prize money awarded out amounted to $110.6 million from a total of 3765 tournaments.  In July of 2019 American teenager, Kyle Giersdorf won $3 million at the Fortnite World Cup and made the news, and the 2019 Dota 2 International tournament, currently has the largest prize pool ever paid in eSports, with a value of over $34 million.

Conclusion

The eSports industry has been growing non-stop since the 90s and it shows no signs of stopping, especially with the recent pandemic of 2020, when the usual sports leagues had to take a forced break and eSports could take to the stage and shine more than ever. If you want to enter into the world of eSports betting with us we can help you take advantage of the best odds and offers from the best original bookmakers with no limits, ACC-EX. So, what are you waiting for?