Through competitive gaming, or otherwise known as “e-Sports”, where gaming is one’s career. As unprofessional as it initially sounds, e-Sports is a culture that has been spiking in popularity over the past few years, and it will only continue to grow. In fact, the birth of e-Sports occurred more than a decade ago in South Korea. Starting in 2002, Starcraft has become the main focus and driving force of the e-Sports scene in Korea, and professional Starcraft games have even been televised locally on a regular basis ever since. As a result, Koreans have developed and accepted the e-Sports culture, treating it like any other sport.
It is no surprise that Koreans are overwhelming and dominant when it comes to competitive gaming, for they have had the most exposure to it. In contrast, e-Sports was not adopted in other parts of the world until nearly 2010, when two types of competitive games, MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) and fighting, evolved North American e-Sports into its state today.
The format and style of e-Sports is comparable to that of other competitive sports. While there are the NBA and NHL for basketball and hockey, respectively , there are league systems that feature the highest level of competitive play for specific games, such as the LCS (League Championship Series) for LoL in North America and Europe. Of course, there are always tournaments for games that involve one-on-one dueling. Competitors are organized in different ways, depending on the type of game. While games like Street Fighter require only one player on a team, games like Dota 2 and Counter-Strike are more prominent due to the diversity in tactics and teamwork of a multiplayer team.
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Only about two years ago, Søren Bjerg was a depressed, antisocial teenager who had dropped out of school and dedicated most of his time to a video game. Nowadays, he earns beyond six figures a month and has an immense fanbase.
How?
E-Sports: An Introduction
Ted Huang