The pounding of the drums get louder and louder as Imagine Dragons are throwing the crowd into a frenzy with their League exclusive track “Warriors”. The scene is almost reminiscent of the Olympics, but it isn’t; this is Esports.

 

Esports is the term coined for competitive gaming. Not gaming like Blackjack or the slots, but video games. Counter Strike: GO, Dawn of the Ancients (DotA), and League of Legends, by far the game with the biggest following, are the forerunners of the sport. Much like sports leagues and the NBA, teams covet for superiority in their respective video games by playing in competitions. As time passed, the various scenes have grown bigger and bigger, eventually becoming fulltime occupations for the competitors.

 

Here at Clark, we even have our very own club dedicated to gaming, RTS Club which was reinstated just this school year from a two year hiatus.

 

Jason Li, one of the co-presidents of the club, had said,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to Li, the scene is only getting bigger and bigger. It’s getting to the point where there’s collegiate leagues for college.

 

On the same note, Coca-Cola, along with their scholarship, are now sponsoring the amateur League of Legends scene in America.

 

Further trying to support the growth of collegiate leagues, some schools are even recruiting students based on their League of Legends prowess. For instance, Robert Morris University in Illinois is adding it to their athletic program, helping pay a significant amount of the student’s tuition.

 

Beyond just the players themselves, there are a whole host of occupations needed for this thriving scene. Technicians, public representatives, sound engineers, team managers, coaches, event organizers and more are all working together to make this a truly noteworthy scene.

 

Also related to Esports are the rising popularity of streamers. Streamers, as the name suggests, stream a video game on a hosting site, such as Twitch.tv or Youtube, and share with the world their gameplay, personality, and humor. All streamers are basically entertainers, and these showmen (and women) have come to make a living off of doing what they love.

 

Compared to every other sport, Esports is still in its infancy. However, with fans and support behind the games growing exponentially over each year, it is truly a force to be reckoned with. This scene not only opens up jobs for people, it’s the pathway to a whole new life.