eSports: a new industry

Abstract

Research background: At the beginning of this century, the eSports industry was not yet a major player although it already existed as a niche of video and computer games. The importance and interest only began to increase with the rise of the internet and its infrastructure. Especially among the younger generation, eSports, today, has a significant meaning. Worldwide, professional players duel each other in countless tournaments online and offline and are enthusiastically celebrated by their millions of fans. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this paper is to analyze how eSports has developed in recent years since its first boom phase as well as to analyze its growth factors and how it has benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic compared to traditional competitive sports. Methods: The global eSports revenues and prize money values are analyzed. The first step is defining the eSports term. The second is looking at the development of eSports financials since its first boom and onward. The COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts are then looked at. Finally, growth factors for the increasing numbers are analyzed. Findings & Value added: The findings show that eSports has gained significant importance in recent years. In particular, the strong increase in global eSports revenue and the associated increase in players’ prize money clearly show that eSports will continue to gain importance and economic strength in the future.