The History Of Professional Esports – Bet On Games From All Ages
Posted: January 23, 2024
Updated: January 23, 2024
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How esports evolved throughout history
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How to bet on esports in 2024?
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The history of professional esports
Join us as we are going to discover the history of professional esports from both a player, bettor, and company perspective. It was a great run, and we all remember the feeling of watching someone play PacMan, only to gather and play Street Fighter ourselves. From the Warcraft LAN parties to the Counter-Strike 2 online betting scene, we will cover everything you need to know.
Today we are going to talk about the history of professional esports. If you are as interested in esports and the betting culture surrounding it as we are. Then you are at the perfect place! Today we are going to go through the general phases that have helped carving the path to the state it is in right now. Keep in mind that the history of esports and video games is a rather long story.
Thus, we are not going to include your favorite games. We understand the importance of Halo, World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Fortnite, Hearthstone, Magic The Gathering, and such. But they were important cogs in the machine, rather than the engine itself. If you are interested in betting on any type of esports you can think of, then please register at the online sportsbook site in the US. They are going to provide several different categories and markets!
How Things Started? – The History Of Professional Esports
Everything started in 1980. Much before the internet was solid enough to shape our societies, we had to visit places with a lot of games. Thus, the community became competitive. To resolve the unnerving need for a competitive atmosphere, these arcade spots have created offline tournaments for games such as Space Invaders and Pacman. The prices were less valuable but more iconic.
A shirt for the Pac-Man champion, or even your name on the wall. According to the SIUE, a competition used to hold roughly 10,000 participants. But this was the turning point where people realized that video games are more than just nerd coding. It was a whole new set of skills humans had to prove themselves in. To bet on any sort of esports, please register at VAVE Sportsbook!
The Street Fighter Era
Once Pacman and Space Invader has created a community of game enjoyers, just the real fun began! We left the arcades and entered rented garages with a couch and a few consoles. Do you remember the time when we gathered together to watch each other playing competitive fighting games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat? According to Red Bull, even today we feel the impact of the Street Fighter culture.
Everyone was gathering together to play games. Once more, there was no significant internet, and this was probably the best for those who preferred to avoid real-life boxing. The history of professional esports truly began with the new sensation we all received while playing in front of a local audience.
StarCraft Changed It All – The History Of Professional Esports
From the rather American gaming culture, rose something that united the love for gaming between the West and the East. It was StarCraft. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the most revolutionary games of its time. And obviously, StarCraft was a gigantic hit. Even today we are watching StarCraft 2 tournaments. There are just so many things we could list about the general StarCraft culture.
What was different in this case, is that back in the day only an outstandingly intelligent few would understand StarCraft. It required fast strategic and analytical skills. Furthermore, it has kickstarted the idea of video games thinking outside of the box. According to Reddit, StarCraft was the true first-ever esports game in the history of gaming.
Counter-Strike Blew Up The Internet
StarCraft was super complex. And during this time, most people have started to make a difference between nerd gamers, and people who basically couldn’t understand games enough to be good at it. However, the era of shooting games has begun. People who had great reflexes and a visual understanding of these types of games were able to participate. The result was a huge group of cool, geeky guys gathering together in sweaty LAN parties.
It was probably the renaissance of eSports when people were shouting at each other through the lines of computers. Lan parties with Warcraft, and the beginning of World of Warcraft. However, CS: GO managed to survive and live in the modern era. Resulting in a still modern betting market, which is the most dominant field in the history of professional esports. Take a look at our Counter Strike 2 betting guide.
League of Legends – The History Of Professional Esports
League of Legends has started a whole revolution in gaming history. This is something one section couldn’t fully contain. Generally, gamers and non-gamers always had a distinction. Cool people did not enjoy playing video games. This has changed with League of Legends. The sportsmen, the influential girls, the programmers, the sports betting geeks, the cheerleaders, and even my mother have started to play this video game.
It has a simple system, making the DOTA format easy. Causing anyone to understand and comprehend the controls, but receiving the same satisfaction upon executing strategies. It also defined and liberated gender identity in esports. Right now, they have built the first eSports arena which can join the famous sports arenas.
Overwatch And Valorant
Finally, we are entering a slightly modern era. The history of professional esports paved the path to greatness. And companies truly appreciated it. While Overwatch was failed by Blizzard, it was genuinely one of the greatest pushes towards the equation of esports and sports. Teams with NFL-style format, and generally local representation instead of random pro players grouping up.
What has put an end to Overwatch’s dominance was Riot Games’s VALORANT. While Valorant alone had its trouble with some professional esport scenes, we can truly see that Valorant is the lovechild of all video games on this list. A piece of gaming art that represents everything gamers seek, which they couldn’t find in real-life sports. If you are interested in more esports history, then take a look at our top 7 mind-blowing facts about esports betting.
Today’s Esports Scene
The history of professional esports is not over yet! We are yet to see new technology being implemented. Such as virtual reality, augmented reality, robots, and simulated life. We have so many opportunities to discover. Who knows? Maybe you could be on the level of Max Verstappen in a VR F1 sport. In the future, we are going to see devices that will allow anyone to try their hands at competitive games, without needing any assets or even computer skills.
The betting scene is always going to evolve together with the genre. Meaning that you will be able to wager on every single old and new game. People still make gigantic betting events for Ages of Empire, and you should register at VAVE Sportsbook to wager!