What are eSports? Definition and Origins of a Global Phenomenon

Born in the 1990s, eSport or electronic sport refers to the competitive playing of video games, mainly online and networked.

This discipline has experienced explosive growth over the past decade thanks to the rise of online multiplayer video games, attracting millions of players and spectators worldwide.

Debugbar introduces you to the intricacies of this booming ecosystem, its key players, and its challenges.

What is eSport?

eSport, short for “electronic sport”, refers to the competitive and professional practice of video games.

Players compete individually or in teams on multiplayer games, usually as part of tournaments with large prize pools.

eSport features different video game genres, including:

• Real-time strategy games (RTS) like StarCraft II,
• First-person shooter games (FPS) like Counter-Strike,
• Fighting games like Street Fighter,
• Sports games like FIFA,
• Digital collectible card games like Hearthstone,
• MOBAs (multiplayer online battle arenas) like League of Legends.

Beyond gaming skills, eSports professionals train like athletes to improve coordination, reflexes, mental strength, and team strategies.

The spectacle dimension is also very present with events that can gather thousands of spectators coming to support their favorite players or teams.

Although its status as an actual sport is still debated, eSport has become a global phenomenon experiencing rapid expansion and attracting a substantial audience.

eSports, a Booming Sector Driven by Flagship Games

As we’ve seen, electronic sports revolve around several popular video game titles, each with its own specifics and gaming community.

Among the most coveted games for competitive gamers are:

• League of Legends (LoL): this real-time strategy game (MOBA) developed by Riot Games is considered a pioneer and remains one of the most popular with its highly anticipated World Championships.
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO): this first-person shooter (FPS) published by Valve thrills crowds with tense showdowns between terrorists and counter-terrorists.
• Dota 2: another key MOBA game, also developed by Valve, that attracts fans with its complexity and high-stakes tournaments.
• Rocket League: this car soccer game combining racing and sports has earned its place in the competitive landscape with its original concept.

Other titles like Fortnite, Call of Duty, Hearthstone or fighting games (Street Fighter, Super Smash Bros…) complete this thriving ecosystem, which continues to attract new publishers, players, and epic tournaments.

A Sector Supported By Major Leagues and Worldwide Tournaments

To structure this competitive scene and allow the best players to compete, numerous tournaments are held throughout the year across the globe.

Leagues and tournaments punctuate the lives of professional gamers, with some landmark competitions like:

• The LoL (League of Legends) World Championships: each year, the top teams from every region battle for the supreme title and millions of dollars in prizes. The 2018 edition in Incheon, South Korea, gathered nearly 100 million online and in-person viewers.
• The CS:GO Majors: these tournaments select the best teams for playoffs with prize pools regularly exceeding $1 million.
• Dota 2’s The International tournament: the pinnacle event of the season, Dota 2’s has held the record for the highest prize pool (over $30 million in 2019) for several years running.
• The Overwatch League and Call of Duty League: these closed leagues modeled on U.S. franchises rely on spectacle and fans bonding with “their” team.

Alongside these, countless smaller tournaments allow the amateur scene to develop and feed the professional team ranks. Some events like Dreamhack or the Intel Extreme Masters have even become institutions, gathering thousands of enthusiasts for several days of competition and celebration.

The Emergence of a Professional Ecosystem: Teams, Players, and Organizations

Driven by this craze, a real economy has emerged around eSports with the development of many professional stakeholders. At the forefront are the teams and players who are the main stars:

• Famous teams like Fnatic, G2 eSports, Team Liquid and FaZe Clan have built veritable empires by recruiting top talent and ramping up investments.
• Star players like Faker in League of Legends, s1mple in CS:GO or Ninja in Fortnite have become wealthy icons, stacking up prize money, salaries, and sponsorship deals.

Around them, an entire ecosystem of coaches, analysts, managers has emerged to support their rise to the top. But also casters, journalists, and content creators who participate in the discipline’s exposure.

All of this overseen by structures, the eSport organizations, which own teams across various games and operate like real businesses. Some, like ReKTGlobal, 100 Thieves or Gen.G, have even completed record fundraising rounds with renowned investors.

An Evolving Business Model, Between Sponsorships and Media Rights

To ensure their development, these eSports organizations rely on several revenue streams, chiefly sponsorships.

• Equipment suppliers,
• computer builders,
• energy drink brands,
• etc.

eSport today attracts advertisers from all horizons, seduced by its young, connected audience.

These partnerships take many forms:

• Team and tournament naming rights,
• Merchandising,
• Branded content,
• Event activations.

Media rights also constitute a major revenue source for teams and competitions. Broadcasting matches and esport content generates substantial financial flows:

• Selling broadcast rights to TV channels (Turner, Canal+, ES1…) and streaming platforms (Twitch, YouTube, Mixer…).
• Advertising and sponsorships on streams.
• Viewer subscription and donation revenues.

Other economic levers are developing like ticket sales to attend e-Sports events, merchandising, tournament prize money, and player trades modeled on traditional sports.

But economic maturity has not yet been achieved and industry players are still looking for the winning formula.

The Progressive Recognition of eSport as a “Real Sport”

Long seen as a mere hobby for “geeks,” eSport has gradually gained exposure and legitimacy over the 2010s. Driven by game publishers and the most dynamic players, the sector has experienced extremely fast structuring and professionalization.

Several countries have taken the step to officially recognize esport, granting it a status similar to traditional sports:

• South Korea as early as 2000 with the KeSPA federation.
• The United States in 2013 by granting athlete visas to professional players.
• France in 2015 and 2016 with major legislative breakthroughs (Digital Economy Act).
• China in 2019 by acknowledging esport professions.

This recognition also entails the creation of official bodies tasked with overseeing and promoting the practice, like the French e-Sports Federation (FFJVC) or the International eSports Federation (IESF) globally.

These organizations advocate for integrating esport into the Olympic movement, with early encouraging experiments at the Asian Games of 2018 and 2022.

But the question remains divisive and the criteria defining a sport (physical exertion, values, universality…) are debated. As a result, esport still navigates between two waters: sometimes presented as a “real sport,” sometimes confined to entertainment status. A situation that will surely evolve as the discipline gains maturity and wider public acceptance.

Future Outlook and Challenges for the Esport Industry

After an explosive 2010s decade, esport enters the 2020s with significant challenges to consolidate its development:

• The need to attract an even wider audience by simplifying access to competitions and developing amateur practice (school, university, recreational…).
• The challenge of diversification to reach new audiences, especially female, and move past the lingering “geeky” image.
• The requirement for new business models to sustain revenues beyond sponsorships (media rights, ticketing, merchandising…).
• The importance of a unified regulatory framework to secure investments and protect stakeholders (player status, anti-doping, addiction…).

These are some of the issues industry players – from publishers to advertisers and esport organizations – are tackling. The goal: make e-Sports a true mass phenomenon, anchored in popular culture on par with music or cinema.

An achievable challenge for this thriving industry, already a giant in the entertainment sector after less than 30 years of existence. With its global superstars, passionate fandoms, and tremendous economic stakes, esport will undoubtedly keep making waves at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and business. A cultural revolution that’s only just begun.