By: Peter Zeng
Recently, there has b
een a rise in the popularity of Electronic Sports (ESports) as a source of entertainment which has been seen in the addition of an ESports section on the ESPN website (Which stands for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network). That’s right, ESports are officially recognized as ‘sports’ now. However, one might be confused as to why ESports, which are just video games, are gaining such a rise in their importance in the sporting community. The video games which currently take up spots on ESPN’s sporting section are Hearthstone, League of Legends, and Defense of the Ancients 2. These games may seem somewhat arbitrary in their selection because their notorieties are arguably not the highest within the gaming community. However, if one looks at the popular video-game streaming website Twitch, the top viewed games are usually Hearthstone, LoL, and Dota 2. Because these are the top viewed games, they generate the most revenue for sponsoring companies and for other associated companies. Basically, they’re in it to win it; it being money. This is fortunate for the legions of gamers around the world because it means that more and more of them may be able to earn a living through doing something which they love: playing video games.
