<<

Electronic sports

This article is about competitions. For de- the label.[4] In 2012, the most popular titles fea- pictions of traditional sports in video games, see sports tured in professional competition were real time strat- game. For games involving exercise, see exergaming. egy and multiplayer online battle arena games 2, Electronic sports (also known as esports or competi- , and StarCraft II.[5] Shooting games like Counter Strike and have enjoyed some success as esports, although their viewer numbers have remained below those of their competitors.[6]

1 Overview

Geographically, esports competitions have their roots in developed countries. has the best es- tablished esports organizations, officially licensing pro- since the year 2000.[7] Official recognition of es- ports competitions outside South Korea has come some- what slower. In 2013, Canadian League of Legends player Danny “Shiphtur” Le became the first pro- to re- ceive a P-1A visa, a category designated for Players at the 2013 Extreme Masters in , “Internationally Recognized Athletes”.[8][9] Along with South Korea, most competitions take place in Europe, tive gaming) is a term for organized video game compe- North America, Australia and . Despite its large titions, especially between professionals. The most com- video game market, esports in Japan is relatively un- mon video game genres associated with electronic sports derdeveloped, which has been attributed largely to its are real-time strategy, fighting, first-person shooter, and broad anti-gambling laws.[10] In 2014, the largest inde- multiplayer online battle arena. Tournaments such as pendent esports brand, ESL, partnered with the local es- the League of Legends World Championship, The In- ports brand Japan Competitive Gaming to try and grow ternational, the Evolution Championship Series, and the esports in the country.[11] provide both live broadcasts of the competition, and cash prizes to competitors. In 2013, it was estimated that approximately 71,500,000 people watched competitive gaming.[12] Demographi- Although esports have long been a part of video game cally, has reported viewership that culture, competitions have seen a large surge in popu- is approximately 85% male and 15% female, with 60% larity in recent years. While competitions around 2000 of viewers between the ages of 18 and 34.[13] Related were largely between amateurs, the proliferation of pro- this appreciable male majority, female gamers within the fessional competitions and growing viewership now sup- industry are subject to significant sexism and negative ports a significant number of professional players and [14] [1] stereotypes. Despite this, some women within esports teams, and many video game developers now build fea- are hopeful about the general progress in overcoming tures into their games designed to facilitate such compe- these problems.[15][16] tition. Labelling video games as “sports” is somewhat contro- The increasing availability of online video streaming plat- versial. While some point to the growth in popularity forms, particularly , has become central to cur- [2] of esports as justification for designating some games as rent esports competitions. In 2014, sports broadcaster sports, others contend that video games will never reach ESPN broadcast the The International finals, marking the the status of “true sports”.[17] In a 2014 interview, when first time an esports event had been simultaneously broad- [3] asked about the recent buyout of popular game streaming cast on a mainstream channel. service Twitch, ESPN president John Skipper described Historically, fighting games and arcade fighters like esports as “not a sport - [they're] a competition.”[18] In Mortal Kombat, Tekken and Super Smash Bros. have been addition, many in the fighting games community main- popular in amateur tournaments, although the fighting tain a distinction between their competitive gaming com- game community has often distanced themselves from petitions and the more commercially connected esports

1 2 2 HISTORY competitions of other genres.[19] 2.2 Esports goes online (1990–1999)

In the 1990s, many games benefited from increasing 2 History internet connectivity, especially PC games. For exam- ple, the 1988 game was an Internet game for up to 16 players, written almost entirely in cross-platform open 2.1 Early history (1972–1989) source software. Netrek was the third Internet game, the first Internet team game,[31] the first Internet game to use metaservers to locate open game servers, and the first to have persistent user information. In 1993 it was credited by Wired Magazine as “the first online sports game”.[32] Large esports tournaments in the 1990s include the 1990 Nintendo World Championships, which toured across the United States, and held its finals at Universal Studios Hol- lywood in . Nintendo held a 2nd World Cham- pionships in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System called the Nintendo PowerFest '94. There were 132 finalists that played in the finals in , CA. Mike Iarossi took home 1st prize. Blockbuster Video also ran their own World Game Championships in the early Attendees of the 1981 Championship attempt to 1990s, co-hosted by GamePro magazine. Citizens from set the highest score. the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Aus- tralia, and Chile were eligible to compete. Games from The earliest known video game competition took place the 1994 championships included NBA Jam and Virtua [33] on October 19, 1972, at Stanford University for the game Racing. Spacewar, where students were invited to an “Intergalac- Television shows featuring esports during this period in- tic spacewar olympics” whose grand prize was a year’s cluded the British shows GamesMaster and Bad Influence! subscription for Rolling Stone.[20] The Space Invaders the Australian gameshow A*mazing, which would show Championship held by Atari in 1980 was the earliest two children competing in various Nintendo games in or- large scale video game competition, attracting more than der to win points. 10,000 participants across the United States, establishing competitive gaming as a mainstream hobby.[21] In the summer of 1981, founded a high 2.3 Rise of global tournaments (2000 on- score record keeping organization called Twin Galax- wards) ies.[22] The organization went on to help promote video games and publicize its records through publications such as the Guinness Book of World Records, and in 1983 it created the U.S. National Video Game Team. The team was involved in competitions, such as running the Video Game Masters Tournament for Guinness World Records[23][24] and sponsoring the North American Video Game Challenge tournament.[25] During the 1970s and 1980s, electronic sports players and tournaments begun being featured in popular news- papers and magazines including Life and Time.[26] One of the most well known classic arcade game players is Billy Mitchell, for his listing as holding the records for Esports tournament prize amounts, 1998–2014.[34] high scores in six games including Pac-Man and Donkey Kong in the 1985 issue of the Guinness Book of World Recently, esports has gone through tremendous growth, Records.[27] Televised esports events aired during this pe- incurring a large increase in both viewership and prize riod included the American show Starcade which ran be- money.[35][36] Although large tournaments were founded tween 1982 and 1984 airing a total of 133 episodes, on before the 21st century, the number and scope of tour- which contestants would attempt to beat each other’s high naments has increased significantly, going from about 10 scores on an arcade game.[28] A video game tournament tournaments in 2000 to about 260 in 2010.[2] Many of was included as part of TV show That’s Incredible!,[29] the largest tournaments today were founded during this and tournaments were also featured as part of the plot of period, including the , the Intel Ex- various films, including 1982’s Tron.[30] treme Masters, and Major League Gaming. The prolifer- 3

ation of tournaments included experimentation with com- out Staples Center.[49] Its successor, the 2014 League of petitions outside traditional esports genres. For example, Legends World Championship in , South Korea had the September 2006 FUN Technologies Worldwide We- over 40,000 fans in attendance and featured musical tal- bgames Championship featured 71 contestants compet- ent, and opening and closing ceremonies in addition to ing in casual games for a $1 million grand prize.[37] the competition.[50] This period was also the peak of televised esports. Televi- sion coverage was best established in South Korea, with competitions featuring StarCraft and III regu- 3 Titles larly televised by dedicated 24-hour cable TV game chan- nels Ongamenet and MBCGame.[38] Elsewhere, esports Main article: Electronic sports titles by genre television coverage was sporadic. The German GIGA Television covered esports until its shutdown in 2009. A number of games support professional competition. The UK satellite television channel XLEAGUE.TV The tournaments which emerged in the mid 1990s co- broadcast esports competitions from 2007 to 2009. The incided with the popularity of fighting games and first- online esports only channel ESL TV[39] briefly attempted person shooters, genres which still maintain a devoted a paid television model re-branded GIGA II from June fan base. In the , real-time strategy games be- 2006 to autumn 2007. The French channel Game One came overwhelmingly popular in South Korean inter- broadcast e-sport matches in a show called “Arena On- net cafés, with crucial influence on the development of line” for the Xfire Trophy.[40] The United States channel esports worldwide. By 2010, multiplayer online battle ESPN hosted Madden NFL competitions in a show called arena games had become very popular as esports. Com- Madden Nation from 2005 to 2008.[41] DirecTV broad- petitions exist for many titles and genres, though currently cast the Championship Gaming Series tournament for the most popular games are League of Legends, seasons in 2007 and 2008.[38] CBS aired prerecorded 2, Smite, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and StarCraft footage of the 2007 World Series of Video Games tour- II.[5] nament that was held in Louisville, Kentucky.[42] The G4 television channel originally covered video games exclu- sively, but broadened its scope to cover technology and men’s lifestyle, though has now shutdown.[38] 4 Video The popularity and emergence of online streaming ser- See also: vices have helped the growth of esports in this period, and are the most common method of watching tourna- ments. Twitch, an online streaming platform launched in While it is common for video games to be designed with 2011, routinely streams popular esports competitions. In the experience of the player in game being the only pri- 2013, viewers of the platform watched 12 billion min- ority, many successful esports games have been designed utes of video on the service, with the two most pop- to be played professionally from the beginning. Develop- ular Twitch broadcasters being League of Legends and ers may decide to add dedicated esports features, or even Dota 2.[43] During one day of The International, Twitch make design compromises to support high compe- recorded 4.5 million unique views, with each view watch- tition. Games such as Starcraft II,[51] League of Leg- ing for an average of 2 hours.[44] ends,[52] and Dota 2[53] have all been designed, at least in part, to support professional competition. The modern esports boom has also seen a rise in video games companies embracing the esports potential of their products, In 2014, Nintendo hosted an invitational 4.1 Spectator mode Super Smash Bros. 4 competitive tournament in lieu of their traditional Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) In addition to allowing players to participate a given [45] press conference. It was additionally streamed online. game, many game developers have added dedicated ob- developers announced in 2014 plans serving features for the benefit of spectators. This can to turn Halo into an esport with the creation of their range from simply allowing players to watch the game un- own dedicated Halo league and a prize pool of 50,000$ fold from the competing player’s point of view, to a highly [46] USD. Both and modified interface that gives spectators access to informa- have their own collegiate outreach programs, aimed at tion even the players may not have. The state of the game cultivating new esports talent at the university and college viewed through this mode may tend to be delayed by a [47][48] level. certain amount of time in order to prevent either teams Physical viewership of esports competitions and the in a game from gaining a competitive advantage. The scope of events have increased in tandem with the growth practice of using a stream to achieve an unfair advantage of online viewership. The Season 3 League of Legends is commonly called “ghosting”.[54][55] Games with these World Championship, held in 2013, was held in a sold- features include Call of Duty,[56] Starcraft II,[57][58] Dota 2,[59] League of Legends,[60] and Counter-Strike.[61] 4 5 TOURNAMENTS

4.2 Online

A very common method for connection is the Internet. Game servers are often separated by region, but high quality connections allow players to set up real-time con- nections across the world. Downsides to online connec- tions include increased difficulty detecting cheating com- pared to physical events, and greater network latency, which can negatively impact players’ performance, espe- cially at high levels of competition. Many competitions take place online, especially for smaller tournaments and exhibition games.

Since the 1990s, professional teams or organized clans The International, an annual electronic sports Dota 2 tourna- have set up matches via Internet Relay Chat networks ment. such as QuakeNet. As esports has developed, it has also become common for players to use automated match- making clients built into the games themselves. This was popularized by the 1996 release of Blizzard’s Battle.net, may be part of a larger gathering, such as Dreamhack, which has been integrated into both the Warcraft and or the competition may be the entirety of the event, like StarCraft series. Automated matchmaking has become the World Cyber Games. Competitions take several for- commonplace in console gaming as well, with services mats, but the most common are single or double elim- such as Live and the PlayStation Network. After ination, sometimes hybridized with group stage. Com- competitors have contacted each other, the game is of- petitions usually have referees or officials to monitor for ten managed by a game server, either remotely to each cheating.[65] of the competitors, or running on one of the competitor’s Although competitions involving video games have long machines. existed, esports underwent a significant transition in the late 1990s. Beginning with the Cyberathlete Professional League in 1997, tournaments became much larger, and 4.3 Local area network corporate sponsorship became more common. Increas- ing viewership both in person and online brought esports Additionally, competitions are also often conducted over to a wider audience.[1][66] Major tournaments include a local area network or LAN. The smaller network usually the World Cyber Games, the North American Major has very little and higher quality. Because competitors League Gaming league, the France based Electronic must be physically present, LANs help ensure fair play Sports World Cup, and the World e-Sports Games cur- by allowing direct scrutiny of competitors. This helps rently held in Hangzhou, China. prevent many forms of cheating, such as unauthorized hardware or software modding. The physical presence For well established games, total prize money can amount [67][68] of competitors helps create a more social atmosphere at to millions of dollars a year. Often, game devel- LAN events. Many gamers organize LAN parties or visit opers provide prize money for tournament competition [67] LAN centres, and most major tournaments are conducted directly, but sponsorship may also come from third over LANs. parties, such as companies selling computer hardware, energy drinks, or computer software. Generally, host- Individual games have taken various approaches to LAN ing a large esports event is not profitable as a stand alone support. In contrast to the original Starcraft, Starcraft venture.[69] For example, Riot has stated that their head- II was released without support for LAN play, drawing line League of Legends Championship series is “a signif- [62] some strongly negative reactions from players. League icant investment that we're not making money from”.[70] of Legends was originally released for online play only, but announced in October 2012 that a LAN client was in There is considerable variation and negotiation over the the works for use in major tournaments.[63] In September relationship between video game developers and tourna- 2013, Valve added general support for LAN play to Dota ment organizers and broadcasters. While the original 2 in a patch for the game.[64] StarCraft events emerged in South Korea largely inde- pendently of Blizzard, the company decided to require organizers and broadcasters to authorize events featur- ing the sequel StarCraft II.[71] In the short term, this lead 5 Tournaments to a deadlock with the Korean e-Sports Association.[72] Ultimately, an agreement was reached in 2012.[73] Cur- See also: List of electronic sports tournaments rently, Blizzard requires authorization for tournaments Esports tournaments are almost always physical events in with more than $10,000 USD in prizes.[74] Riot Games which occur in front of a live audience. The tournament offers in-game rewards to authorized tournaments.[75] 6.2 Player exploitation 5

Esport competitions have also become a popular fea- 6.2 Player exploitation ture at gaming and multi-genre conventions. Riot games hosted their 2014 League of Legends European Region- There has been some concern over the quality of life and als live at , and hosted the North American potential mistreatment of players by organizations, espe- counterpart at PAX.[76][77] cially in the competitive market of South Korea. Korean organizations have been accused of refusing to pay com- petitive salaries, leading to a slow exodus of Korean play- ers to other markets. In an interview, League of Leg- ends player Bae “Dade” Eo-jin said “Korean players wake 6 Teams and associations up at 1pm and play until 5am”, and suggested that the 16 hour play schedule was a significant factor in caus- [86] Professional gamers, or “progamers”, are often associated ing burnout. Concerns over the mental health of play- with gaming teams and/or broader gaming associations. ers intensified in 2014 when League of Legends player Teams include , and . Cheon Min-Ki attempted to commit suicide a week after [87] In addition to prize money from tournament wins, play- admitting to match fixing. ers may also be paid a separate team salary. Team spon- To combat the negative environment, Korean League of sorship may cover tournament travel expenses or gaming Legends teams were given new rules for the upcoming hardware. Prominent esports sponsors include compa- 2015 season, including the adoption of minimum salaries nies such as Razer.[78] Associations include the Korean for professional players, requiring contracts and allow- e-Sports Association, United Kingdom eSports Associa- ing players to stream individually for additional player tion, and the International eSport Federation. revenue.[88]

6.3 Women in esports 6.1 Ethics in esports The number of female viewers has been growing in es- Pro gamers are usually obligated to behave ethically, ports, and in 2013 30% of esports enthusiasts were fe- abiding by both the explicit rules set out by tournaments, male, an increase from 15% in the previous year. How- associations, and teams, as well as following general ex- ever, despite the increase in female viewers, there is a pectations of good sportsmanship. For example, it is dearth of female players in high level competitive esports. common practice and considered good etiquette to chat The top female players that are involved in esports mainly “gg” (for “”) when defeated.[79] Many games get exposure in female-only tournaments, most notably [89] rely on the fact competitors have limited information Counter-Strike, Dead or Alive 4, and StarCraft II. about the game state. In a prominent example of good The first professional female Starcraft 2 player, Kim conduct, during a 2012 IEM Starcraft II game, the play- “Eve” Shee-Yoon, was the subject of controversy in 2011 ers Feast and DeMusliM both voluntarily offered infor- when her team manager stated that she had been selected mation about their strategies to negate the influence of for “her skills and looks.”[90] outside information inadvertently leaked to “Feast” dur- Canadian StarCraft II Zerg player Sasha Hostyn (Scarlett) ing the game.[80] Players in some leagues have been rep- rimanded for failure to comply with expectations of good first gained notoriety in the open qualifiers of IGN Pro- League 4, where she defeated top-tier Korean players.[91] behavior. In 2012, professional League of Legends player IWillDominate was banned from competing for a period She is well known for being one of the few non-Korean [81] players who can play at the same skill level as male Ko- of one year following a history of verbal abuse. In [92] 2013, the well known progamer Greg “Idra” Fields was rean players. fired from his team for insulting his fans on an internet Team Siren, an all-female League of Legends team, was forum.[82] formed in June 2013. The announcement of the team was met with controversy, being dismissed as a “gimmick” to There have been serious violations of the rules. In 2010, [93][94] eleven StarCraft: Brood War players were found guilty of attract the attention of men. The team disbanded fixing matches for profit, and were ultimately fined and within a month, due to the negative publicity of their pro- motional video, as well as the poor attitude of the team banned from future competition. Two teams were denied [95][96] prize money for collusion during the 2012 MLG sum- captain towards her teammates. mer championship.[83] In 2012, Azubu Frost was fined Accusations of sexism in professional esports have been $30,000 for cheating during a semifinal match of the commonplace, and one competition drew world playoffs.[84] Dota 2 player Aleksey “Solo” Berezin headlines for only being open to male players, although was suspended from a number of tournaments for inten- the host of the tournament maintained that this was in tionally throwing a game in order to collect $322 from accordance with the International eSports Federation's online gambling.[85] guidelines as was only meant to avoid possible conflicts 6 8 SEE ALSO with the rules down the line. Following the coverage of the recent popularization of streaming services has al- the event, the male-only tournament was opened to fe- lowed individuals to broadcast their own game play in- male players.[97] In 2012, Street Fighter x Tekken player dependent of such events as well. Individual broadcasters ArisBakhtanians commented on the lack of female play- can enter an agreement with Twitch in which they receive ers in the community, saying "sexual harassment is part of a portion of the advertisement revenue from commercials a culture, and if you remove that from the fighting game which run on the stream they create.[105] community, it’s not the fighting game community.” He [98] The other major streaming platform is Major League later apologized for his comments. Gaming's MLG.tv.[106] The network, which specializes in Call of Duty content but hosts a range of gaming ti- tles, has seen increasing popularity, with 1376% growth 7 Media coverage in MLG.tv viewership in Q1 of 2014.[107] The 2014 Call of Duty: Ghosts broadcast at MLG's event drew over 160,000 unique viewers.[108] The network, like Twitch, allows users to broadcast themselves playing games, though only select individuals can use the service. Currently, MLG.tv is the primary streaming platform for the Call of Duty professional scene; famous players such as Matt Haag have recently signed contracts with the com- pany to use its streaming service exclusively.[109] For , coverage was also simulcast on ESPN's streaming service ESPN3.[110]

7.2 Television

Especially since the popularization of streaming in es- StarCraft match televised on MBCGame in Seoul, South Korea ports, organizations within esports no longer prioritize television coverage. Ongamenet continues to broadcast The main medium for electronic sports coverage is the as an esports channel in Korea, but MBCGame has shut Internet. Coverage of esports by general news orga- down. Riot Games’ Dustin Beck has stated that “TV’s not nizations is generally sparse; most reports come from a priority or a goal”,[111] and Dreamhack’s Tomas Her- news organizations with a technology or video games fo- mansson has said “eSports have a proven record to be cus. Esports Heaven, Esports Nation[99] (ESN), and ESFI successful on internet streaming only."[sic][112] World[100] are among the few independent news organi- On the night before the finals of The International zations specifically dedicated to electronic sports. Other 2014, ESPN2 broadcast a half-hour special profiling the typical sources for information include video game devel- tournament.[110] ESPN Inc. president John Skipper has oper’s websites, websites of professional teams, and inde- since ruled out e-sports as a programming venture for pendent community websites. their networks because they are, in his opinion, a “com- Electronic sports tournaments commonly utilize com- petition” rather than a “real sport”.[113] mentators or “casters” to provide live commentary of games in progress, similar to a traditional sports com- mentator. For popular casters, providing commentary for electronic sports can be a full-time position by itself.[101] 8 See also Prominent casters for StarCraft II include Dan Stemkoski and Nick Plott. • List of electronic sports players

7.1 Live streaming • International eSport Federation

Many esports events are streamed online to viewers over • Korean e-Sports Association the internet. Dreamhack Winter 2011, for example, reached 1.7 million unique viewers.[102] With the shut- • United Kingdom eSports Association down of the Own3d streaming service in 2013, Twitch is by far the most popular streaming service for competitive • Entertainment Consumers Association gaming. However, newcommers like Hitbox are growing fast and getting more attetion.[103][104] While coverage of live events usually brings in the largest viewership counts, • BarCraft 7

9 References [19] Graham, David Philip (December 12, 2011). “Guest Ed- itorial – Momentum Matters: A Historical Perspective on [1] Paul Tassi (20 Dec 2012). “2012: The Year of eSports”. the FGC and eSports”. Shoryuken.com. Forbes. Retrieved 15 Aug 2013. [20] Owen Good (19 Oct 2012). “Today is the 40th Anniver- sary of the World’s First Known Video Gaming Tourna- [2] Ben Popper (30 Sep 2013). “Field of streams: how Twitch ment”. . Retrieved 1 Aug 2013. made video games a spectator sport”. TheVerge. Re- trieved 9 Oct 2013. [21] “Players Guide To Electronic Science Fiction Games”. Electronic Games 1 (2): 35–45 [36]. March 1982. Re- [3] Nick Schwartz (21 Jul 2014). “ESPN embraces eS- trieved 1 February 2012. ports, broadcasts Dota 2 championship 'The Interna- tional'". USA Today. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. [22] Bramwell, Tom (March 8, 2010). “Walter Day leaves ”. . Retrieved September 18, [4] inkblot (4 Dec 2011). “Where eSports Leagues Go Wrong 2013. With Fighters”. SRK. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. [23] Carless, Simon (October 20, 2006). “World’s Oldest [5] robzacny (31 Dec 2012). “2012 in eSports: the battle for Competitive Gamer Passes On”. GameSetWatch. Re- momentum between League of Legends, StarCraft 2, and trieved September 18, 2013. Dota 2”. PC Games N. Retrieved 15 Nov 2013. [24] Caoili, Eric (May 4, 2009). “Walter Day: Twin Galaxies [6] Dave LeClair (21 Oct 2013). “Why Are First- and the Two Golden Domes”. GameSetWatch. Retrieved Person Shooters Not As Watched As Other eSports”. September 18, 2013. MakeUseOf. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. [25] “Video champ tourney bound”. Sunday Star-News. De- [7] “History of Korea e-Sports Association 1999–2004” (in cember 23, 1984. p. 6F. Retrieved September 20, 2013. Korean). KeSPA. Retrieved 7 Oct 2013. [26] Michael Borowy (2012). “3”. Public Gaming: eSport and [8] Paresh Dave (7 Aug 2013). “ League of Leg- Event Marketing in the Experience Economy (Thesis). Re- ends star gets U.S. visa as pro athlete”. LA Times. Re- trieved September 18, 2013. trieved 4 Dec 2013. [27] Ramsey, David. “The Perfect Man: How Billy Mitchell [9] “P-1A Internationally Recognized Athlete”. US Citizen- became a video-game superstar and achieved Pac-Man ship and Immigration Services. Retrieved 7 Oct 2013. bliss.”. Oxford American. Archived from the original on February 29, 2008. [10] Andrew Groen (14 May 2013). “Why gamers in Asia are the world’s best eSport athletes”. PC World. Retrieved 7 [28] Plunkett, Luke (June 14, 2011). “Arcades Don't Make Oct 2013. for Good TV (But Starcades do)". Kotaku. Retrieved September 17, 2013. [11] “ESL to bring world class eSports to Japan with new local partner”. 4 Sep 2014. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. [29] Biggs, John (July 29, 2009). “The That’s Incredible! Video Game Invitational: This is what we used to watch”. [12] Philippa Warr (9 April 2014). “eSports in numbers: Five Tech Crunch. Retrieved September 30, 2013. mind-blowing stats”. Red Bull. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. [30] Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1982). “TRON”. Retrieved [13] “Major League Gaming reports COWS GO MOO 334 September 20, 2013. percent growth in live video”. GameSpot. 14 Nov 2012. Retrieved 8 Oct 2013. [31] “GameSpotting 20XX, Page 7”. GameSpot.com. Re- trieved 2012-05-25. [14] Alex Walker (13 Jan 2013). “Sunday eSports: Sexism on the eSports scene – a straw man’s debate”. GamesOnNet. [32] Kevin Kelly (Dec 1993). “The First Online Sports Game”. Retrieved 9 Oct 2013. wired.com. Retrieved 1 Jul 2013.

[15] John Gaudiosi (28 Apr 2012). “Team Evil Geniuses Man- [33] Blockbuster Video World Game Championship Guide, ager Anna Prosser Believes More Female Gamers Will GamePro Magazine, June 1994 Turn Pro”. Forbes. Retrieved 8 Oct 2013. [34] “E-sports Earnings”. Retrieved 15 November 2014. [16] John Gaudiosi (29 Jul 2012). “Taipei Assassins Manager Erica Tseng Talks Growth Of Female Gamers In League [35] Patrick Miller (29 Dec 2010). “2011: The Year of eS- Of Legends”. Forbes. Retrieved 8 Oct 2013. ports”. PCWorld. Retrieved 15 Aug 2013.

[17] Elsa (2011-09-08). “eSports: Really??". Destructoid. [36] Gaudiosi, John (12 February 2014). "'Ender’s Game' Blu- Retrieved 1 Sep 2013. ray gets ESports tournament”. Tribune. Re- trieved 20 February 2014. [18] Emanuel Maiberg (6 Sep 2014). “ESPN Says eSports Isn't a Sport -- What Do You Think?". GameSpot. Retrieved [37] Tim Surette (11 Sep 2006). “Casual gamer gets serious 9 Nov 2014. prize”. GameSpot. 8 9 REFERENCES

[38] Kim, Ryan (2007-06-11). “League beginning for video [58] Michael McWhertor (29 Jul 2013). “StarCraft 2 update gamers”. Sfgate.com. Retrieved 2012-06-04. adds new eSports features, color blind mode”. . Retrieved 3 Nov 2013. [39] “ESL TV”. Retrieved 16 Sep 2013. [59] Tom Senior (17 Aug 2011). “Dota 2 tournament show- [40] “Xfire Trophy CC3 @ Arena Online on Gameone TV”. cases Valve’s e-sports spectator package”. PC Gamer. SK Gaming. Retrieved 3 Nov 2013.

[41] Steve_OS (15 Sep 2008). “ESPN2’s Madden Nation to [60] Lucas Sullivan (17 Jun 2011). “The full breakdown on Begin Fourth Season”. Operation Sports. Retrieved 16 League of Legends’ Spectator Mode”. PC Gamer. Re- Sep 2013. trieved 3 Nov 2013. [42] Schiesel, Seth (28 Jul 2007). “Video Game Matches to [61] Jordan Devore (2013-11-10). “The latest Counter-Strike: Be Televised on CBS”. The Times. Retrieved 4 GO update is for spectators”. Destructoid. Retrieved 3 Dec 2013. Nov 2013. [43] Patrick Howell O'Neill (16 Jan 2014). “Twitch dominated [62] Jason Schreier (20 Jun 2012). “Why StarCraft II Still streaming in 2013, and here are the numbers to prove it”. Doesn't Support Local Multiplayer”. Kotaku. Retrieved The Daily Dot. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. 7 Sep 2013. [44] Ben Popper (30 Sep 2013). “Field of streams: how Twitch [63] Michael McWhertor (12 Oct 2012). “League of Legends made video games a spectator sport”. The Verge. Re- LAN version in development at Riot Games, Mac client trieved 9 Nov 2014. news coming”. Polygon. Retrieved 7 Sep 2013. [45] Alex R (29 April 2014). “NINTENDO ANNOUNCES [64] Xairylle (20 Sep 2013). “DOTA 2 update: Why the LAN SUPER SMASH BROS. INVITATIONAL AT ”. feature is something worth being excited about”. TechI- eSports Max. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. nAsia. Retrieved 23 Sep 2013. [46] Jasmine Henry (7 Sep 2014). “Microsoft Launching ‘Halo [65] “GotFrag eSports - All Games News Story - TF2 Referees Championship Series’ eSports League”. Game Rant. Re- Wanted”. Gotfrag.com. 2007-10-10. Retrieved 2012- trieved 9 Nov 2014. 06-04. [47] Steve Jaws Jaworski (1 Jul 2014). “ANNOUNCING THE NORTH AMERICAN COLLEGIATE CHAMPI- [66] Gloria Goodale (8 Aug 2003). “Are video games a ONSHIP”. Riot Games. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. sport?". CS Monitor. Retrieved 4 Dec 2013.

[48] Emanuel Maiberg (8 Feb 2014). “Blizzard esports initia- [67] Andrew Goldfarb (May 1, 2012). “League of Legends tive will support your college gaming club”. Game Spot. Season 2 Championship Announced”. IGN. Retrieved Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. Aug 22, 2012.

[49] http://na.leagueoflegends.com/ [68] David Schmidt (July 16, 2012). “NASL S3 Finals push en/news/esports/esports-editorial/ SC2 earnings over $5m”. ESFI World. Retrieved Aug one-world-championship-32-million-viewers 22, 2012.

[50] Magrino, Tom. “Welcome to the League of Legends 2014 [69] Ben Popper (30 Sep 2013). “Field of streams: how Twitch World Championship!". Retrieved 20 August 2014. made video games a spectator sport”. TheVerge. Re- trieved 4 Dec 2013. [51] Michael McWhertor (4 Mar 2011). “The Sacrifices of StarCraft II Made In The Name of Sports”. Kotaku. Re- [70] robzacny (21 Aug 2013). “LCS “a significant investment trieved 8 Oct 2013. that we're not making money from”, but Riot love it any- way”. PCGamesN. Retrieved 14 Sep 2013. [52] robzacny (24 Oct 2012). “How Riot Games are building a better League of Legends, and catching up to their own [71] Edge Staff (11 Nov 2010). “The battle for StarCraft II”. success”. PC GamesN. Retrieved 8 Oct 2013. Edge-Online. Retrieved 14 Sep 2013.

[53] Alan LaFleur (21 Jun 2012). “Valve show developers how [72] Simon “Go0g3n” (2009). “Blizzard VS. Kespa, the Ulti- to support eSports with Dota 2”. Esports Business. Re- mate fight”. Gosu Gamers. Retrieved 18 Sep 2013. trieved 8 Oct 2013. [73] Jeroen Amin (2 May 2012). “KeSPA, OGN, Blizzard and [54] “Spectator FAQ”. Riot Games. Retrieved 22 January GOMtv Join Horses for StarCraft II”. PikiGeek. Re- 2014. trieved 14 Sep 2013.

[55] “Spectating”. Curse.com. Retrieved 22 January 2014. [74] “Tournament Guidelines Document” (PDF). Blizzard. 6 Jun 2013. Retrieved 14 Sep 2013. [56] Steve Smith (15 August 2012). “Black Ops 2 CoDCaster System”. Gamma Gamers. Retrieved 28 June 2014. [75] “Prized Events”. Riot. Retrieved 4 Dec 2013.

[57] Jeremy Peel (16 Jan 2013). “StarCraft 2’s new observer [76] Riot Pente (Jul 2014). “Get ready for Gamescom - EU Re- UI mod tool should make for better eSports broadcasts”. gionals Heading to Gamescom”. Riot Games. Retrieved PC GamesN. Retrieved 3 Nov 2013. 9 Nov 2014. 9

[77] Nick Allen (15 Aug 2014). “SHOWDOWN IN SEAT- [96] “League of Legends Team Siren Disbands: Valuable TLE - NA REGIONALS HEADING TO PAX PRIME”. Lessons Learned - League of Legends”. 26 Jun 2013. Re- Riot Games. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. trieved 27 Dec 2014.

[78] Brent Ruiz (3 Feb 2013). “Interview with Razer’s global e- [97] Phil Savage (1 Jul 2014). “Hearthstone tournament ex- sports manager: The business behind sponsoring teams”. plains why women aren't allowed to play”. PC Gamer. ESFI World. Retrieved 10 Sep 2013. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014.

[79] David Daw (21 Jan 2012). “Web Jargon Origins Re- [98] Casey Johnston (18 Feb 2014). “Women are gamers, but vealed”. TechHive. Retrieved 22 Sep 2013. largely absent from “e-sports"". ARS Technica. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. [80] Victor Meulendijks (8 Feb 2012). “IEM Sao Paolo: Man- ner Bear Conflict”. Cadred. Retrieved 8 Oct 2013. [99] “About Esports Nation”. Retrieved 28 June 2014.

[81] “IWillDominate Tribunal Permaban & eSports Competi- [100] “About ESFI”. Retrieved 8 Oct 2013. tion Ruling”. 4 Dec 2012. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. [101] Tracey Lien (16 Jul 2013). “How two StarCraft commen- tators became stars”. Polygon. Retrieved 11 Sep 2013. [82] Alexander Garfield (10 May 2013). “Evil Geniuses Re- leases Greg “IdrA” Fields”. TeamLiquid. Retrieved 8 Jan [102] “Dreamhack and Twitch.TV Announce Record-Breaking 2014. Online Viewership”. Dreamhack.

[83] Jeremy Peel (27 Aug 2012). “League of Legends’ Curse [103] Jon Partridge (29 Oct 2014). “How Hitbox plans to take NA and Team disqualified from MLG Summer on Twitch”. RedBull. Retrieved 29 Oct 2014. Championship, no first or second place awarded”. PC GamesN. Retrieved 22 Sep 2013. [104] Erik Cloutier (29 Jan 2013). “Own3D is Shutting Down. Twitch TV Declared Winner.”. GamingSoul. Retrieved [84] Laura Parker (10 Oct 2012). “Riot fines League of Leg- 1 Jul 2013. ends cheaters $30,000”. GameSpot. Retrieved 22 Sep 2013. [105] Paul Tassi (2 May 2013). “Talking Livestreams, eSports and the Future of Entertainment with Twitch”. Forbes. [85] Sun_tzu (21 June 2013). “Solo out of Rox.KIS”. join- Retrieved 16 Sep 2013. Dota. Retrieved 3 July 2014. [106] “MLG Streaming Platform”. Major League Gaming. Re- [86] Frank 'Riot Mirhi' Fields (5 Nov 2014). “KOREA'S trieved 28 July 2014. PRO EXODUS MAY SPELL BAD NEWS FOR THE GAME'S TOP REGION”. Riot Games. Retrieved 9 Nov [107] “1376% Growth in MLG.tv Viewership in Q1”. Major 2014. League Gaming. April 10, 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2013. [108] “MLG Championship 2014 - Anaheim, CA”. Esports [87] Owen S. Good (18 Mar 2014). “Top Korean League of Maxl. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2013. Legends player fixed matches before attempting suicide, says eSports league”. Polygon. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. [109] “Video Game Super Star “Nadeshot” Signs Exclusive Deal with Major League Gaming”. Major League Gaming. [88] Travis Gafford (27 Oct 2014). “Major changes heading to April 10, 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2013. Korea for the 2015 season”. OnGamers. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. [110] “The International Dota 2 championships will be watch- able on ESPN3”. Polygon. July 17, 2014. Retrieved July [89] “Top 100 Female Players”. e-Sports Earnings. esport- 21, 2014. searnings.com. Retrieved 27 Dec 2014. [111] Daniel Tack (4 Sep 2013). “Riot Games, 'League of Leg- [90] Becky Chambers (17 Aug 2011). “All About Eve: The ends’, And The Future Of eSports”. Forbes. Retrieved 8 Story of StarCraft 2′s First Female Pro”. The Mary Sue. Oct 2013. Retrieved 9 Nov 2014. [112] Radoslav “Nydra” Kolev (25 Sep 2013). “DreamHack [91] “Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn - Summary”. e-Sports Earnings. partners with MTG for eSports studio in Stockholm”. esportsearnings.com. Retrieved 22 August 2014. Gosu Gamers. Retrieved 12 Nov 2013.

[92] “Meet Scarlett, the 20-year-old woman who’s blazing [113] “Sorry, Twitch: ESPN’s Skipper Says eSports “Not a trails in 'StarCraft'". The Daily Dot. dailydot.com. 21 Sport"". Re/code. Retrieved 5 September 2014. December 2013.

[93] “Introducing Team Siren - YouTube”. 30 May 2013. 10 External links [94] “Why Team Siren Matters”. 10 Jun 2013. Retrieved 27 Dec 2014. • The Rise of Competitive Gaming & E-Sports Video [95] “Siren broke up (with proof) - Page 16 - League of Leg- produced by Off Book (web series) ends Community”. 19 Jun 2013. Retrieved 27 Dec 2014. 10 11 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

11.1 Text

• Electronic sports Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic%20sports?oldid=644518940 Contributors: Callum, Patrick, Michael Hardy, Voidvector, Delirium, Conti, Etan, SatyrTN, Furrykef, Robbot, Hadal, Seano1, Kevin Saff, Jacoplane, Bradeos Graphon, Daniel Brockman, Fishal, Etaonish, OverlordQ, Neuromancien, Klemen Kocjancic, SYSS Mouse, Sparky the Seventh Chaos, Tristan Schmelcher, ESkog, Lampbane, Me2hero, Gargaj, Batmanand, Pion, Suruena, RJFJR, Recury, Karaleung, Marasmusine, Firsfron, LOL, Digx, Fre- plySpang, LordLuXun, Rjwilmsi, Digismack, Captain Disdain, Sigmalmtd, Aerotheque, Naraht, Gurch, Chobot, YurikBot, Wavelength, LittleSmall, Baldrick, Torinir, Member, Tavilis, Bachrach44, Msikma, Calsicol, Welsh, Aaron Brenneman, Brian Crawford, Rwalker, Kan- der, Ignitus, FlooK, Intershark, Bakkster Man, SMcCandlish, Shawnc, Jaranda, ViperSnake151, Groyolo, Victor falk, Remiel, SmackBot, Laughing Man, Slashme, Dabese, McGeddon, Jagged 85, Djith, Nawsum526, Gilliam, G4mble, Kazkaskazkasako, Chris the speller, An- thonzi, Sct72, Tsca.bot, Rav33n, Kcordina, Athimus, Funky Monkey, Flooq, Derek R Bullamore, Kkailas, Sajman12, Doobuzz, Beetstra, EddieVanZant, Mr Stephen, VdSV9, Andyroo316, Derfud, Walter Day, Woodroar, Iridescent, The Giant Puffin, NativeForeigner, Aeternus, Dp462090, AVeRY!, Jestix, Pink Fae, Clyde Miller, SkyWalker, CmdrObot, Dersaidin, Entropyfails, Nczempin, Zerter, Macktheknifeau, Cydebot, Wedderkop, Steel, ST47, PsychoSmith, Fhaarman, Vakaman, Rusty23, Makron78, AntiVandalBot, QuiteUnusual, NiTTYZ, Credema, Vendettax, Insomn1a, Txomin, Antony.s, Trilandian, Geniac, VoABot II, Cadsuane Melaidhrin, Panser Born, Golden Ghost, Slpk, JJ Harrison, The Pantsless One, Oren0, MartinBot, Mmoneypenny, Keith D, CommonsDelinker, RockMFR, ESportsUK Gavin, Rajatkalia, Yuni4us, SharkD, Thomas Larsen, KIAaze, Odinwolf, Struc, STBotD, Cpt.Muji, Elenseel, Bonadea, Guru Larry, Bdickason, DarkXymphony, Idioma-bot, Trustwiki, Trippz, RoyFocker, Maxtremus, Philip Trueman, BradDick, Bmc31190, Sage1989, Markdol- ven, Gonia119, Falcon8765, Ryoga3099, DarthBotto, Troymaclure, ZBrannigan, SydniasWolff, Zorkmid24, Peterhansen2032, Arda Xi, Obiwiki, Johnny902, JohnnyMrNinja, Perplexing, Kmanzi08, WikipedianMarlith, ClueBot, Lawrence Cohen, Hbykyngen, Niceguyedc, Pali311, Odds87, DragonBot, Excirial, PixelBot, Arjayay, RC-0722, VsevolodKrolikov, Dekisugi, OG17, Bryon6012, Gikü, Appari- tion11, DumZiBoT, BooTheIpod, Illict, XLinkBot, Forbes72, Ost316, Beach drifter, Thatguyflint, Keegan4123, Pioneer42, Itaku, Addbot, FeverBee, Fyrael, Tothwolf, Ronhjones, Sid01061992, Elen of the Roads, Tide rolls, Donnie Park, Legobot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Frag- gle81, Nallimbot, KamikazeBot, Dbzruler72, AnomieBOT, DemocraticLuntz, Jim1138, Commander Shepard, Materialscientist, E2eamon, Xqbot, TinucherianBot II, Intelati, DSisyphBot, The Interior, Dietime19, Spurio, StoneProphet, FrescoBot, Danny jj, Tecky300, Eli- jahtary, Mìthrandir, Richardc78, Progamertraining, I of horses, InvenTEAM, Bttp, Saint Silence, Colin Andrew Webster, Dmthoth, Lando Calrissian, Alextokar, Wo.luren, Aetherealle, Vukovic2, DiscipleOfKnowledge, RjwilmsiBot, Aircorn, The Stick Man, Steve03Mills, Yong-hoe Kim, SullivanRoger, Vlastanovak, Noonaj, Damien TK, Tommy2010, Winner 42, Wikipelli, Helldonv1.0, K6ka, Brownthomas, ZéroBot, Jimmiller83, Asterix560, Wani, Pek, FrederickMS, Gray eyes, Brandmeister, Donner60, Newbreeder, Peter Karlsen, Baroc, Gmt2001, Dotaveteran, ClueBot NG, Aaron Booth, Jack Greenmaven, Leqdung, BlackChaosBelow, Satellizer, NamSandStorm, Angel- raven, Miracle dream, BouncingYeti, Almightybob101, BG19bot, Kndimov, Puramyun31, Neøn, WebableTrev, Jbvega, Mark Arsten, Cikkz, ArmorDon, O8447, Sprite01, Brendaaan123, Nyctophobiac, SCSheRo, Samwalton9, BattyBot, PHPGator, Guanaco55, Some- bigbuyer, Ajsears, Friedchicken01, Warsamer, ClearlyTrying, ChrisGualtieri, Yuipo, SNAAAAKE!!, Mrkingpenguin, Biga.catalin, Dis- sident93, Mogism, Xen.tonyswan, Frosty, Halfeye, Acidity410, Msuh5565, Mosothom, Shoryureppa, Liyan1430, Ambrosiani, M3OUU, Manul, Meanstreet, MLGWorldstar, Dragoonnorps, Pieguy4, Olanatan, Esportsfever, TsukiKanade, Ninadang, Shudshudshud, Bultaco1, Monkbot, Volvix, Beast01998, Prisencolinensinainciusol, Atpinheiro, Waihamyee, Bracolli, 22Robmeister, EcoBoss, Samzeven22, IntHon- est, Nixon333, Gamesnerd, Bbchris0916, Maplestrip, Memeboy123, Gtwillwin, AllKnowingGuyMan, 514legion, Kliesen, Kkfng, Toon- Lucas22 and Anonymous: 633

11.2 Images

• File:Esports_Tournament_Prize_Amounts_1998–2014.png Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Esports_ Tournament_Prize_Amounts_1998%E2%80%932014.png License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Aron Am- brosiani • File:Goście_Intel_Extreme_Masters_(8465481816).jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Go%C5% 9Bcie_Intel_Extreme_Masters_%288465481816%29.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: Goście Intel Extreme Masters Original artist: Piotr Drabik from Poland • File:Space_Invaders_Championship.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/87/Space_Invaders_Championship.jpg License: Fair use Contributors: Original publication: Unknown

Immediate source: http://news.cnet.com/2300-1043_3-6189707-1.html Original artist: Newscom • File:Televised_Star_Craft.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Televised_Star_Craft.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: Televised Star Craft, 1 Original artist: Kai Hendry from , UK • File:The_International_2014.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/The_International_2014.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakobwells/14516251507/in/set-72157645379601078 Original artist: Jakob Wells

11.3 Content license

• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0