Of course eSports is one of the favourite indulgences of the Gen Z but it is slowly and surely making it into the main stream
Simply put, eSports (also known as electronic sports, e-sports) is a form of competition using video games.
Imagine a 16 year old winning $3 million playing video games. Well that is what American Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf got for winning the competition in the solo tournament in the popular online video game Fortnite on Sunday in New York. Note that Giersdorf’s prize pool is only $800,000 smaller than the pot for the winner of the U.S. Open
He was one of at least 100 players competing for $30 million in total prize money (the largest prize pool in the history of e-sports), as the booming popularity of video and online games has a lot of attention and investments and fueled the emerging professional sport.
Playing under the name “Bugha,” Giersdorf won the solo finals portion of the Fortnite World Cup by scoring 59 points, 26 more than his nearest competitor “psalm,” according to the Fortnite World Cup Leaderboard, posted on the game’s website.
“Words can’t even explain it. I’m just so happy,” Giersdorf said in an interview at the event at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York, posted by organizers on Twitter. “Everything I’ve done, the grind, it’s all paid off. It’s just insane.”
The Fortnite finals saw 100 players battling on giant computer screens. Forty million players attempted to qualify over 10 weeks of online competition.
More than 30 nations were represented with 70 players coming from the US, 14 from France and 11 from the UK.
The game involves 100 players being dropped onto an island where they have to find weapons, build structures and eliminate each other until one player comes out on top.
Launched in 2017, Fortnite’s popularity has helped Epic Games reach a $15-billion-valuation last year. It competes with other games like Electronic Arts Inc.’s Apex Legends and Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Tencent also owns a 40 percent stake in Epic Games.
Global revenues from esports, or professional video game competitions, will hit $1.1 billion in 2019, up 27 percent since last year, thanks to ballooning revenues from advertising, sponsorship and media rights, according to a report released earlier this year.
Overall, the global video and electronic games market, excluding revenues from esports, will generate $152.1 billion in 2019, up 9.6 percent over last year, according to a report by gaming analytics firm Newzoo.
