Competitive gaming is regarded by some as a relatively new
phenomenon, but its roots can be traced back to the 1980s. Lets take a look at
esports’ humble beginnings and how it has evolved with time! The video games
industry has grown to become a multi-billion pound industry in the space of a
few decades. How did it all begin?
Atari’s Space Invaders tournament in 1980 was one of the most
popular first-recorded competitive gaming events, where players (some 10,000
participants) attempted to record the highest score. Prior to that, Stanford
University held a much smaller tournament for Spacewar back in 1972.
But it was during the ’90s that gaming took greater strides. More
competitive console games emerged, such as Super Street Fighter II, a classic
2D one-on-one brawler, while PC games like Doom (aside from revolutionising the
first-person shooter) allowed users to play together using a local area network
(LAN).
Then, in 1997, Quake’s Red Annihilation US tournament drew over
2,000 entrants. Dennis ‘Thresh’ Fong won the competition and was awarded
developer John Carmack’s Ferrari.
The Cyberathlete Professional League was founded in 1997, and the
first few esports professionals started to make a name for themselves,
including Johnathan ‘Fatal1ty’ Wendel, who has reportedly won around half a
million dollars in prizes during his esports career.
In 1999, new shooters Unreal Tournament and Counter-Strike arrived –
and the latter went on to become one of the world’s most popular esports games.
In the 2000s, console multiplayer gaming reached new heights. The
introduction of online services such as Xbox Live allowed console gamers to
play cooperatively or against one another in games like first-person shooter
Halo 2, paving the way for other popular online titles including Call of Duty.
During the 2000s, games like StarCraft and Counter-Strike increased
in popularity. The rise of broadband internet, video content and new online
services allowed more gamers to play each other online and stay connected than
ever before!
