eSports Fun Facts

Did You Know?

eSports has become a major field of academic study

If you find yourself or your child asking, can you major in eSports in college, the answer is yes. That’s right. Ten colleges and universities offer degree programs in the eSportsfield, including big name campuses like UC Irvine, the University of Texas, and The Ohio State University. These degree programs cover topics ranging from the business aspects of managing eSportsteams to strategic statistical analysis and more.

Kids of all ages can compete and make money through esports.

Many gamers may be surprised to learn that the record for the highest single-player tournament payout is held by a teenager. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the youngest ever eSports pro got his start at just 6 years old. Kids of all ages can compete in eSports for fun, to sharpen their skills, and even to make some money.

eSports attracts high-profile celebrity investors

From legendary athletes like Steph Curry and Magic Johnson to musicians like Drake, investors have infused eSportswith $3.3 billion since 2013. Professional sports experts are also taking notice. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, have both expanded their holdings to include eSportsfranchises.

eSports is so popular, Comcast is constructing a $50 million arena so fans can watch live!

Fusion Arena, first of its kind in the US, promises to be a game-changer in esports. Based in Philadelphia, the Fusion Arena will have space for 3,500 spectators of competitive gaming and other events. Construction is scheduled to complete by the end of this year.

Japan has opened its first-ever eSports gym in Tokyo

2021 was the year of many surprises, one being the fact that leading countries in the gaming industry started to build dedicated places for those who want to train for the highest competing level. Gamers have access to nutritional coaches as well as dedicated training spaces in Tokyo.

The inventor of DOTA goes by the nickname “IceFrog”

One of the most successful game inventors, the man behind the DOTA phenomenon, has a very peculiar nickname, “IceFrog”! This is one of the few fun facts that the public had access to, the rest of his personal life being hidden from the public’s attention.

Ginx eSports TV is the First Official eSports Channel

In the UK, it is the Ginx eSports TV that has managed to set up a 24-hour channel and is now watched by millions of people.It tracks all of the ongoing competitions and airs many of them straight on the channel. This is a great way to bring new people to the events and showcase what eSportscompetitions are all about at their finest.

WorldWide Facts

First eSports Event in History

The first esport event dates back to 1972. There were 10 000 attendees and the prize was a 1-year subscription to Rolling stone magazine.

eSports Industry Valuation

In 2018, the eSports industry worth was $906 Million, while last year (2019) it was expected to reach 1.1 billion.

eSports Investment Trends

Out of these $906, $694 million came from brand investment (direct and indirect)

That’s a 48% increase in brand investment from the previous year.

eSports Viewers Growth

By 2019, the number of viewers grew to 443 million and is expected and expected to reach 586 million in 2020

Chinese eSports Representation

China has the biggest representation with 21/50 players coming from China

Player Earnings

Total earnings for the Top 50 players is $61.46 million or $1.23 million per player on average.

Most Played Games 2022

While there’s been no shortage of games released over the past few years, you might be surprised to learn that majority of the most played games in 2021 are actually much older. Here we’re recapping the top 10, which we’ve based on data provided by publishers/developers, as well as various analytics sites.

#10 220K

Apex Legends

Respawn’s Apex Legends stealth dropped out of nowhere and then proceeded to take the battle royale genre by storm. It proved the perfect recipe of compelling gameplay, AAA production quality, and a free-to-play business model that saw it succeed in temporarily dethroning Fortnite and PUBG as most-played and most-watched multiplayer games.

#9 458K

PUBG

The game that kicked off a frenzy that saw the entire multiplayer gaming landscape reshaped over the past few years, PUBG still commands a huge audience despite the battle royale genre becoming flooded with copycat titles.

#8 458K

Dota 2

The game that kicked off a frenzy that saw the entire multiplayer gaming landscape reshaped over the past few years, PUBG still commands a huge audience despite the battle royale genre becoming flooded with copycat titles.

#7 913K

New World

Amazon’s first foray into AAA MMORPGs has been a resounding success with the launch of New World back in September. With tremendous production values and a solid combat system that feels very Souls-inspired, New World very much looks and plays like a ‘next-gen’ MMORPG, even if its design doesn’t boast any especially innovative features.

#4 4M

Roblox

Roblox has skyrocketed in popularity since its launch back in 2006, especially over the past five or so years. Back in 2016 CEO David Baszuski was proudly touting 700,000 concurrent players and declaring the 1 million milestone wasn’t far around the corner. Fast forward to 2020 and Roblox’s 7th Annual Bloxy Awards saw incredibly 4 million players watching in-game concurrently.

#1 12.3M

Fortnite

Love or hate Fortnite, it surely has to go down as among the most important video games ever made. Epic Games’ battle royale game has totally recalibrated what it means to build and support a successful “live” service-style video game.

#6 1.2M

Counter Strike GO

Counter-Strike: GO is the FPS that just won’t quit. April 2020 saw its highest-ever concurrent player numbers, topping 1.3 million. Not only is that a hugely impressive figure on its own, but the game been cranking out this sort of performance for eight years.

#3 8M

Crossfire

It’s likely that up until only fairly recently the majority of our readers wouldn’t have heard of one of the world’s most-played video games. Crossfire, a Counter-Strike clone, is an absolute beast over in Korea, and it’s set to make its mark over in the west soon.

#5 1.4M

Minecraft

1.4 million concurrent stat is taken from a Polygon article back in 2015 when Minecraft’s MAU was estimated at below 40 million. It wouldn’t be out of the realms of possibility that Minecraft now sees over three times that concurrent number on occasion.

#2 8M

League of Legends

League of Legends’ numbers completely blow those out of the water. According to Riot Games, almost each and every single day, League of Legends is played by around 8 million people.