Virtual games such as PC games and esports are gaining immense popularity and acceptance in today’s society. Attitude towards them has changed significantly over time: at first, they were considered just entertainment, and now they are considered as a potential sports discipline. Although many people are still arguing whether we can consider a Dota player as an athlete. But why not? Let’s take a look at this issue with you and decide whether virtual games deserve the status of a sports discipline.

Competition and the desire to win

Esports involves a high degree of competition and the desire to win. This is the most important thing in this sport. Teams and players go through intense qualifying tournaments. Each player demonstrates his skill and coordination. Do you think it’s easy? However, the gamer spends months or even years to improve their coordination and professionalism. Many professional gamers become not only athletes but also monetize their hobby through boosting services. In boosting companies, ordinary players order the passage of games such as World of Warcraft (because wow boost is one of the most popular services), Genshin Impact, Destiny 2, FIFA 23, and many others. Thanks to their gaming experience, professionals help players through difficult content, leveling heroes, and extracting important in-game resources. Just like professional athletes, esports players devote a huge amount of time and effort to training and preparing for tournaments in order to achieve the highest results. This competition makes esports a real sport.

Growing popularity of esports

Gamers themselves must be shocked at how quickly this industry has developed! Although this has been going on for several decades. As a result, today millions of spectators and fans around the world watch eSports competitions. Many large international virtual gaming tournaments attract huge numbers of spectators and sponsors. We can compare them to traditional sporting events such as the Olympics. Esportsmen become celebrities and their achievements are recognized in the same way as the achievements of professional athletes.

Development of players’ physical and mental abilities

To become a successful professional cyber sportsman, you need to have an outstanding reaction, agility, coordination of movements, and strategic thinking. Is it available to many players? Yes. But are they willing to spend long hours training? Few of them. Competitions contribute to the improvement of many physical parameters of players, such as attention, concentration, reaction speed, and strength. Therefore, we can say that esports is really difficult and requires effort. Not every player can become a sportsman in virtual games.

Teamwork

Cybersportsmen play in teams. To achieve victory, you need to cooperate with your partners and go towards the same goal. Players build a strategy, think it through to the smallest detail, and study the games of their opponents in order to find their weak points. What does this remind you of? Any team sport. Remember how football coaches gather the team before the match to give instructions? If you watch any sports competition, for example, the International, you will see the same thing. Team dynamics and interaction between game participants play an important role in determining the outcome of a match. This collaboration is an important element of many traditional sports disciplines. Therefore, we can classify cybersport as a sport.

Internationalization

In addition, esports can serve as a powerful tool for communication and bringing people together. Many players form communities by competing or collaborating in games and even joining teams. These teams and communities may be international. They bring together players from all over the world and promote cultural exchange.

Learning tool

Esports also has huge potential for development as an educational tool. For example, many games require strategic and logical thinking and real-time problem-solving skills. Learning and developing these skills through games can be beneficial for students and children.

Investment

In addition, the recognition of virtual games as a sports discipline opens up new opportunities for sponsors and investors. Revenue in the Video Games market is projected to reach US$384.90bn in 2023, according to Statista. Popular esports events attract large numbers of viewers and therefore provide excellent marketing opportunities for companies. It also contributes to the development of infrastructure and support for esports as a sporting activity.

Finally, the recognition of virtual gaming as a sports discipline contributes to a more positive perception of the gaming industry as a whole. It should be noted that in some countries eSports is already recognized as an official sports discipline.

In conclusion, virtual games have every reason to be recognized as a sports discipline. They provide a high degree of competition, require physical and mental skills, promote teamwork, promote socialization and education, attract large audiences, and provide business and investment opportunities. The recognition of esports as a sport will contribute to its further development and strengthening as a legitimate and important part of modern sports culture.

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The European esports’ market is thriving with opportunities. There are more tournaments than ever, and new start-ups appear daily. Tech hubs are being created in different countries, allowing more partnerships across Europe. In this article, you’ll read about the latest developments in the esports’ market in the EU.

Understanding the Esports Market

Esports or e-sports are professional videogame competitions in a multiplayer environment. Since 2018, this industry enjoys a streak of yearly audience growth in Europe. This trend was confirmed in 2020 when everyone expected a crash because of the world crisis. Due to its virtual nature, this segment didn’t lose many audiences with the pandemic.

 In 2019, e-sports enjoyed a massive audience of around 443 million worldwide. Online casinos tapped into this new trend. If you do a quick search for kasino ilman talletusta (casino no deposit) in Finnish, you’ll find where you can bet on electronic sports.

Esports and Tech Companies

Tech companies around the world are watching those competitions closely. After all, it’s a billionaire business that’s still on the rise. Several start-ups and media companies want to broadcast those competitions. Streaming those competitions is one of the main challenges those tech companies have.

It’s because this kind of competition is focused on the player, not on the spectator. Even sports media moguls, such as ESPN, weighed in a rush for the best streaming system. Increasing the audience for those competitions is crucial for monetising the broadcasts.

Genvid Technologies is a start-up developing a new streaming system. It employs several cameras in different angles and interactive elements.

Esports in Europe

Despite not losing its audience, the business’ numbers shrunk compared to 2018 records. From an all-time high of €3,6 billion, the volume of transactions in 2018 dropped to €1,7 billion in 2019. Still, this market didn’t seem to feel the blow, and it keeps expanding.

Near Amsterdam, a massive tech hub complex called H2O has just opened its doors. It’s the largest of the kind in Europe, with an arena, gaming club, including VR games. H2O e-sports complex is currently the largest of its kind, but it’s not the only one. Similar initiatives are gaining space in countries like Finland and the UK. In this section, you’ll read more information about those markets.

What’s on in Finland?

Gambling is a natural part of the Finnish culture, where about 80% of the Finnish people gamble as a pastime. The increasing professionalisation of Finnish esports market has attracted regular sports gamblers. The Finnish are also enthusiastic e-sport players. The country was the fifth in the ranking from 2019, with more than 50 countries.

In 2019, the Finnish Olympic Committee included e-sports in the sports category. The Finnish Assembly also organises esports events every two years. In those competitions, players create teams to compete with other teams. Earnings in those competitions ranged between $58,000 and $223,849.

If you want to know more about esports in Finland, you must check what Auli Wälkky has to say. She’s a psychologist who’s an expert in online games and online interaction between players. Check her latest reviews and find out what’s on in Finland!

• Mobile Options

Esports games for mobile is still a developing field, but it makes excellent promises. There are only a few companies worldwide, dedicated to mobile esports. Critical Force is one of them, and it’s already reaping off the benefits. The company is located in Kajaani, but it’s already receiving international investment.

The South Korean company NHN Entertainment started investing in Critical Force in 2018. Today, the latter has opened a subsidiary in Seoul. The company’s most successful game is a first-person shooter game called Critical Ops. This game has already over 50 million downloads worldwide. In 2018, the company received funding of more than €5.4 million from Business Finland.

Esports in the UK

The UK Esports Market generates billionaire profits every year. It comes from a five-year upward trend, and nowadays, this segment’s revenue is about £1.57 billion. Yet, the British Esports Association thinks the UK isn’t keeping pace with other countries, despite being one of the Top5 markets in this field.

The main reason for this lag would be lack of sponsorship and investment, according to the Association. International-scale events, like the 2020 UEFA EURO esports competition are improving the situation.

Conclusion

The esports business is on the rise and is bound to attract more tech companies’ attention. There’s a massive potential for monetisation of those tournaments. From sports giants to tech start-ups, everyone wants a share of this incredibly profitable market.