The world of esports has undergone a seismic shift over the past 5 years in the wake of what many industry analysts have come to refer to as the ‘esports boom’. This refers to the emergence into mainstream awareness and appeal of competitive video gaming in the early 2020s that has seen it move from a niche concern to become the world’s single fastest growing sport.
Those who have not watched these developments closely may be too surprised to discover that esports has grown to this extent, in so doing outpacing arguably better known and certainly more lucrative sports on the rise like T20 Cricket and Formula 1. But this has been a long time coming, and the tipping point – precipitated by global events that played into the hands of a competitive scene able to operate remotely – was merely a step in its inevitable rise.
In truth, esports has been around as long as there have been games to compete within, but only truly became a professional concern able to support a wide number of teams and athletes in the early years of the new millennium. The roots of this modern state of play can be traced to South Korea, with its internet cafe culture and deep investment in classic esports titles like StarCraft. It is from this nation that the name itself, esports, derives.
As we reached the 2010s, several things happened to break this sport out of its regionalism. One was a precipitous drop in the price of high performance computer components and gaming laptops, making the once costly concern accessible to a wider audience. It was also the 2010s that saw the emergence of game streaming on platforms like Twitch truly take hold and expand the prospective audiences involved in competitive gaming.
Nowadays esports is more diverse than ever, with a number of genres rapidly expanding and developing their own scenes, communities and competitions. To truly appreciate this diversity, we’re going to take a look at the fastest growing of these today.
Mindsports
Like esports itself, mindsports is a nebulous and hard to precisely define genre – though over time it has begun to gain advocates and validation by the wider global sporting body. In effect, mind sports refer to classic games that, when played to a high level, are justly deserving of the accolades classically attributed to more physical sports.
The best known of these is undeniably chess, which has been on the verge of broad acknowledgement as a modern sport for decades. Now, with the International Olympic Commission pushing for its inclusion in the Olympic games, it appears its time may have finally come.
And while chess is the big player, there are a whole host of other games that belong to this category – the majority of which hail from the world of casino gaming. The rise of online casinos over the past 20 years has exposed many new players to the thrills and deep strategy of games ranging from poker to roulette and baccarat. This process has been galvanized by the growing import of dedicated platforms like CasinoReviews which have done much to popularize the sector by collating reputable platforms together into a searchable directory. Furthermore, such sites have become hotspots on which to access competitive welcome bonuses and other sign-up offers to leading gaming providers, further contributing to the growth of these mindsports.
Mobile MOBAs
The MOBA genre – short of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, has long been the jewel in the crown of global esports. Headline games like League of Legends and Dota 2 are home to many of the best known, highest paid and most prestigious athletes and teams, and their competitive circuits span the globe.
But MOBAs have long struggled to break out of their PC-centric niche due to their sophisticated rule-set and control requirements. However, more recently the genre has successfully made the jump to a more accessible format. This is thanks to the rise of smartphone-optimized MOBAs like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, League of Legends: Wild Rift and Arena of Valor. These titles have pared back this genre to its essentials, favoring a greater emphasis on action, and simplified touch-friendly inputs.
This has resulted in the genre exploding in popularity in its mobile iteration, with many now predicting that in a number of years this spin-off will supplant its PC forebear as the world’s dominant esports genre.
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