Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although organized competitions have long been a part of video game culture, these were largely between amateurs until the late 2000s, when participation by professional gamers and spectatorship in these events through live streaming saw a large surge in popularity. By the 2010s, esports was a significant factor in the video game industry, with many game developers actively designing and providing funding for tournaments and other events.
Paul "Redeye" Chaloner is a British former esports broadcaster.
Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but not live-streamed.
Evil Geniuses (EG) is an American esports organization based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1999, the organization has fielded players in various fighting games, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Fortnite Battle Royale, Halo,League of Legends, StarCraft II, Rocket League, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, and World of Warcraft.
Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that improve over the course of a game and which contribute to the team's overall strategy. The typical ultimate objective is for each team to destroy their opponents' main structure, located at the opposite corner of the battlefield. In some MOBA games, the objective can be defeating every player on the enemy team. Players are assisted by computer-controlled units that periodically spawn in groups and march forward along set paths toward their enemy's base, which is heavily guarded by defensive structures. This type of multiplayer online video games originated as a subgenre of real-time strategy, though MOBA players usually do not construct buildings or units. Moreover, there are examples of MOBA games that are not considered real-time strategy games, such as Smite (2014), and Paragon. The genre is seen as a fusion of real-time strategy, role-playing and action games.
The International is an annual esports world championship tournament for the video game Dota 2, hosted and produced by the game's developer Valve. The International was first held at Gamescom as a promotional event for the game in 2011, and has since been held annually with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament consists of 20 teams; 12 based on final results from the Dota Pro Circuit and six more from winning regional playoffs from the North America, South America, Southeast Asia, China, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe regions.
Twitch is an American video live streaming service that focuses on video game live streaming, including broadcasts of esports competitions, in addition to offering music broadcasts, creative content, and "in real life" streams. It is operated by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. It was introduced in June 2011 as a spin-off of the general-interest streaming platform Justin.tv. Content on the site can be viewed either live or via video on demand.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England between 28 July and 8 August 2022.
The ESL Gaming GmbH, doing business as ESL, is a German esports organizer and production company that produces video game competitions worldwide. ESL was the world's largest esports company in 2015, and the oldest that is still operational. Based in Cologne, Germany, ESL has eleven offices and multiple international TV studios globally. ESL is the largest esports company to broadcast on Twitch.
Complexity Gaming, formerly stylized as compLexity, is an American esports franchise headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The franchise was founded in 2003 by Jason Lake and is co-owned by Lake, real estate investor John Goff, and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Complexity operates out of the Legion by Lenovo Esports Center, an esports training facility in The Star. The franchise competes in Apex Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, FIFA, Fortnite, Hearthstone, Madden, Magic: The Gathering Arena, Rocket League, and Valorant. Complexity formerly competed in several other games, including Call of Duty, Dota 2, Heroes of the Storm, and League of Legends. In addition to competitive teams, Complexity also streams gaming sessions over Twitch. Complexity formerly maintained Limit, a World of Warcraft guild, until the end of their sponsorship deal with the guild in early 2022.
The League of Legends European Championship (LEC) is the professional League of Legends esports league run by Riot Games in Europe, in which ten teams compete. Each annual season of play is divided into two splits, spring and summer, both consisting of nine weeks of round-robin tournament play, which then conclude with play-off tournaments between the top six teams. At the end of the season, the top performing teams qualify for the annual League of Legends World Championship. The LEC represents the highest level of League of Legends play in Europe.
OG is a professional esports organisation based in Europe. Formed in 2015, they are best known for their Dota 2 team who won The International 2018 and 2019 tournaments. They also have teams representing other games, such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Valorant.
PSG Esports is a French professional esports organisation founded in 2016. Based in Paris, it is the esports department of the parent club Paris Saint-Germain F.C. The organisation has active divisions in FIFA, League of Legends, Dota 2 (PSG.LGD), FIFA Online, Brawl Stars, and Arena of Valor. It also had teams in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (PSG.RRQ) and Rocket League. Since December 2020, the club has an online youth system in France and around the world called the Paris Saint-Germain Academy Esports.
The International 2017 (TI7) was the seventh iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 esports world championship tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament began with the online qualifier phase in June 2017, and ended after the main event at the KeyArena in Seattle in August. The Grand Finals took place between the European-based Team Liquid and Chinese-based Newbee, with Liquid defeating Newbee 3–0 in a best-of-five series, winning nearly $11 million in prize money.
FACEIT is an esports platform founded in London in 2012. The company has administered leagues for games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, Rocket League, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2.
ESL One Hamburg 2017 was a Dota 2 eSports championship tournament hosted by ESL. It took place in Hamburg, Germany in October 2017. This is the first ESL One event held in Hamburg, after three previous ESL One events in Germany were held in Frankfurt. In accordance with the new Dota 2 competitive season format set by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament will be the first Dota 2 Major tournament of the 2017 Dota Pro Circuit season.
The NBA 2K League is an esports league joint venture between the National Basketball Association and Take-Two Interactive. The league was announced on February 9, 2017. On May 4, 2017, it was revealed that 17 of the 30 NBA teams would have their own NBA 2K League team during the inaugural season in 2018. As of 2022, there are 22 NBA teams that have 2K League Teams, while two international teams also compete in the league without being affiliated with any NBA teams.
Imane Anys, better known by her online pseudonym Pokimane, is a Moroccan-Canadian Twitch streamer and YouTuber. She is best known for her live streams on Twitch, broadcasting video game content, most notably in League of Legends and Fortnite. She is currently the most-followed female streamer on the platform. She is a member and co-founder of OfflineTV, an online social entertainment group of content creators.
Cheating in esports is a deliberate violation of the rules of an esports governing body or other behavior that is intended to give an unfair advantage to a player or team. At its core, esports are video game competitions in an organized, competitive environment. Tournaments often pay out prize money to the highest placing teams in these events, giving players an incentive to cheat. Commonly cited instances of cheating include the use of software cheats, such as aimbots and wallhacks, exploitation of bugs, use of performance-enhancing drugs, such as Ritalin and Adderall, and match fixing.
