eSports were originally conceived and developed in the late 80’s and early 90’s with the Nintendo World Championships. The Nintendo World Championships toured the United States and eventually held its finals in Hollywood, California. Such initial eSports events were immortalized in the 1989 film The Wizard. The term eSports was later coined by Wired Magazine in 1993 to describe competitive video game tournaments.
Since the conception of eSports the field has developed quite a bit, especially since the internet went mainstream in the mid 90’s. In modern times, tournaments are a common thing and top eSports champions earn over hundreds of thousands of dollars per annum. In certain Asian countries, professional gamers even earn celebrity status. The popularity of eSports seems to be ever-growing and seems to be getting quite a lot of attention from large institutions.
As reported earlier by the Daily Mail, there is a growing rift currently in the world of ESports. There is a huge push to get ESports listed as an Olympic sport. The Guardian reports that this might officially happen in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
However, not all are pleased with the idea of listing eSports as an Olympic sport. Many gamers have claimed that by turning eSports into an Olympic event, many unnecessary and unwanted rules and regulations will be introduced. Others claim that eSports are not quite a physical activity and it does not do justice to traditional events, such as the javelin throw or the 100m dash.
'I do understand people - and I've heard this complaint quite a lot - who say, "We are losing what eSports is, it is supposed to be guys in jeans and T-shirts talking to their mates about video games",' said Austin 'Capitalist' Walsh, an eSports commentator and veteran of the scene.
It appears that despite the controversy, eSports is heading towards a more organized and mainstream event, which like other sports, will probably include mandatory drug testing among other things.
With the massive success of CryptoKitties, the first game fully created on Ethereum’s blockchain, one might suppose that the future of competitive gaming and eSports lies in blockchain technology. Despite the fact that blockchain technology is in its infancy, it does show quite a bit of promise in the world of gaming in particular and ESports as well.
Amongst the benefits of blockchain technologies in eSports include the ability for spectators to wager on matches, remove any option of cheating and improve transparency.
We at Game Protocol are dedicated to advancing the blockchain revolution in the realm of video games and improving the industry for years to come.
