ESports Brief History

INtroduction – eSports brief history. The very first game. The first tournaments in the gaming history (1972-1989). First large scale tournament. The rise of internet and birth of eSport. (1990-1999). Million dollars prize pools and Twitch introduced (2000-now). The game changer. Largest Overall Prize Pools in Esports. Future? Sources.

A group of Stanford students took part in a competitive tournament called “Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics” in Atari’s arcade game Spacewar.

In the mid 90’s, internet had become widespread and fast enough to allow the spreading of online gaming on PC. Professional gaming organizations, such as CPL were founded. (Cyberathlete Professional League) hosted tournaments for several good known games began , including Quake, Counter-strike, Warcraft and Starcraft.

Million dollars prize pools and Twitch introduced (2000-now).

Intel has announced the Intel World Open, an esports tournament that will take place on the lead up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. The tournament will feature Japan-based title Street Fighter V and Rocket League, with a total prize pool of $500,000 on the line.