Beginnings
The first documented video game tournament took place at Stanford University in October 1972. Students competed in Spacewar! and the winner received a year's subscription to Rolling Stone. In 1980 Atari held a Space Invaders championship with about 10,000 players.
From LAN parties to stadiums
The 1990s brought networked multiplayer shooters. In 1997 a player called Thresh won the Red Annihilation Quake tournament and took home programmer John Carmack's Ferrari. In South Korea StarCraft became a national sport with televised matches.
After 2010, streaming on Twitch and YouTube made esports global. The League of Legends World Championship final is watched live by millions.
How it works today
- Teams have salaried players, coaches, analysts and psychologists.
- Revenue comes from sponsors, broadcast rights and a share of in-game item sales.
- Big circuits: Counter-Strike Majors, the Six Invitational in Rainbow Six Siege, The International in Dota 2 and the Esports World Cup in Riyadh.
- 1972Spacewar! tournament at Stanford
- 1997Red Annihilation in Quake, winner takes a Ferrari
- 2011Twitch launches and watching games goes mainstream
- 2017First Six Invitational in Rainbow Six Siege