Esports is big business and schools, colleges and universities are all on-board. More than 1700 teams from 100 universities took part in the UK National Students' Esports League. The University of Warwick took the title of UK Esports University of the Year in April 2021 for the third year in a row and has recently invested £275,000 in a new esports research hub and competition venue.
A recent World Championship attracted 73.8 million viewers. Esports is now a hugely popular recreational activity that is becoming big business. The British Esports Association recognises this and is creating pathways for young people looking to make their living in this field and other closely linked digital industries around the world.
What is esports?
Esports is competitive video gaming, where people play against each other online and at live spectator events. In the UK esports is classified as a game, like chess, and not a sport. However, in some countries, including Ukraine and the US, esports is considered a sport - and thus gets more recognition. The community consists of around
222.9 million individuals, and as it becomes more mainstream, the industry continues to grow. Esports’ integration into pop-culture has helped the industry massively; with expected revenues of over $1.5billion USD by 2023.
There are currently around 35 different video games recognized as esports including multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games such as League of Legends and Dota 2, first-person shooters (FPS) like CSGO, Call of Duty and Overwatch, fighting games like Street Fighter and Smash Bros and sports-based titles including FIFA and Rocket League. Depending on the title, a contest can be one on one, in pairs or teams. Most esports titles are team-based and are always played against another person or group of people on PCs, consoles and mobiles.