Electronic Sports is a sport in which video game competitions reach the "competitive" level. E-sports is an intellectual competition between people using electronic devices as sports equipment. Through sports, participants can exercise and improve their thinking ability, reaction ability, limb coordination and willpower, and cultivate team spirit. E-sports is also a profession, similar to non-electronic game competitions such as chess. On November 18, 2003, the State Sports General Administration officially approved e-sports as the 99th official sports competition. In 2008, the State Sports General Administration approved e-sports as the No. 78 official sports competition.
The 18th Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018 will include e-sports as a performance event.
What is e-sports? Professional e-sports competitions. What is e-sports?
E-sports has two basic characteristics: electronics and competition
"Electronic" refers to its methods and means, which means that this sport relies on various software and hardware with information technology as its core and the environment it creates, which is similar to the equipment and venues in traditional sports. In e-sports, "equipment" relies on information technology, which is also the difference between e-sports and traditional sports.
"Competition" refers to the essential characteristic of sports, that is, confrontation. As a sport, confrontation is the most basic feature. There are many categories and events of e-sports, but the core must be confrontation and competition.
Concept Summary
Based on the above understanding, we will elaborate on the concept of e-sports: E-sports is based on e-sports games and uses information technology as the core software and hardware equipment. , In the virtual environment created by information technology, under unified competition rules, and competitive e-sports game competitions conducted fairly under the guarantee of rules, e-sports is becoming a brand-new sport.
Misunderstanding
The view that "online games = e-sports" is wrong. With the development of the game industry and the continuous replacement of e-sports projects, e-sports is no longer limited to stand-alone games limited to IP direct connection or LAN. Although online games are very different in terms of distribution, operation, payment methods, and game platform construction, this does not affect the inclusion of some highly balanced and confrontational online games in e-sports projects. Regardless of stand-alone games (single-player games) or online games (multiplayer games), as long as they meet the two characteristics of "electronics" and "competition", they can be called e-sports in a broad sense.
The main differences are:
First, the basic attributes are different. Online games are entertainment games, e-sports are sports events, and online games are mainly about pursuing feelings in the virtual world. For the purpose of simulation and role-playing, e-sports is an organized intellectual confrontation between people in a virtual environment created by information technology;
Second, e-sports has a clear and unified purpose. The biggest feature of competition rules is strict time and round restrictions, while online games lack clear and unified competition rules, and there are no time and round restrictions, which can easily make people addicted;
Thirdly, e-sports competitions are among athletes. Competitions between people in a fair and equitable sportsmanship spirit determine the outcome through intellectual and physical confrontation between people. Online games are mainly communication and interaction between people and machines or between people, and do not necessarily require human beings. Judgment of results by confrontation with people.
Fourth, e-sports focuses on thinking ability, reaction ability, coordination of mind and limbs, overall view, willpower, and team spirit. Some online games can gain advantages by just recharging. This is also the key to e-sports. The main difference from online games.
Industry composition
E-sports events
E-sports is inseparable from the platform first, that is, TV games, computer games and smartphone games. All e-sports events They are all based on games.
Internationally, the games that serve as e-sports events are mostly direct confrontation FPS games, hero battle MOBA competitive games, and fighting games. Well-known e-sports games include StarCraft 1, StarCraft 2, Warcraft 3, DOTA2, CSGO, DotA, Heroes League, Heroes of the Storm, Quake, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Peace Elite, APEX, Age of Empires, Vainglory, Overwatch, FIFA, Hearthstone, Rainbow 6, Rules of Infinite, Honor of Kings, and other LAN/online battle games.
E-sports events are generally held in the form of leagues, held once a year, or divided into multiple seasons a year.
With the rise of online games, sponsors are more inclined to online game events, so exhibition events continue to be added to e-sports events. However, due to sponsor reasons, WCG, the most famous international e-sports event, has been suspended since 2014. E-sports events have also evolved into events organized by game sponsors and operators themselves, and e-sports products have gradually diversified.
E-sports and events
The regular e-sports events that Chinese players can directly participate in are:
NEST National E-sports Competition: organized by the State Sports General Administration Hosted by the Information Center, the competition events in 2014 are DOTA2, FIFA online3, League of Legends, and SC2, and the exhibition event is Three Kingdoms 2.
Dota2: i League (imbatv), G League, Supernova Open, ISS China Internet Cafe Super Tournament, DOTA2 International Invitational Tournament
League of Legends: LPL (League of Legends Professional League), LDL (League of Legends Development League), MSI (League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational), RR (League of Legends Intercontinental Series), WCS (League of Legends Global Finals), All-Star (League of Legends All-Star Game)
StarCraft 2: WCS (Blizzard Starcraft World Championship), GSL (StarCraft 2 League)
Overwatch: OWL (Overwatch League), OWOC (Overwatch Challenger Series), OWOD (Overwatch Pioneer Open Championship)
The heroes compete: the heroes compete in the Champions League
Dungeon and Warriors: F1 King of Kings Dungeon and Warriors Professional League
WESG World Electronics Competitive Games
"WCG", "CPL" and "ESWC" are known as the world's three major e-sports events.
World Leisure Sports Conference "Iron Curtain Cup" International E-sports
Athletes
The "e-sports athletes" refer to those who are outstanding and have been selected through layers of , professional players who are qualified to participate in e-sports competitions. Like athletes in traditional sports, professional players need to practice a game (a project) continuously for a long time.
Players are generally divided into professional players and amateur players. The difference is that amateur players will only participate in the competition as amateurs and do not take gaming as a career. Professional players generally belong to a certain club/team and form an employment relationship.
Club
Also called a team. Like clubs in sports leagues (such as the NBA), they are mutual benefit organizations formed by athletes. Professional teams generally have unique logos (such as team logos and uniforms) and have unified work and rest arrangements.
With the continuous improvement of industry standards and game levels, more and more new roles have appeared in professional teams, such as team leaders, coaches, analysts, etc. They are generally responsible for the behind-the-scenes work of the team, such as players Guidance and game analysis, etc.
Sponsors
The operation of the club is inseparable from sponsors. Sponsors mainly provide financial, physical or related services and other support, while clubs or event organizers conduct commercial promotions for sponsors. , forming a mutually beneficial relationship.
Amateur teams generally have no sponsors, or are sponsored by Internet cafes and individuals. Professional teams, on the other hand, are more likely to have partnerships between companies and clubs and provide sponsorship.
In the past, domestic events and teams had basically no requirements or choices for sponsors. However, with the development of e-sports in China, Chinese domestic events and teams have become more and more cautious and professional in their choice of sponsors.
For example, in order for the display refresh rate to meet the highest international standards.
Development process
As early as 1986, a live broadcast on the American ABC channel between two children trying out Nintendo game consoles was regarded as the beginning of e-sports. The Famicom is an early classic of home computers. After the birth of the Famicom, the prototype of e-sports has already appeared.
In 1990, Nintendo held game competitions in 29 cities across the United States. Nintendo produced a special cartridge containing three games, "Super Mario Bros.", "Red Racer" and "Tetris" for this competition. The time limit is 6 minutes and 21 seconds. The final score is based on the scores of the three competitions. This competition received widespread response and achieved excellent publicity results. At the same time, there were only 26 copies of the "1990 Nintendo World Championship" FC Gold Edition cassette in the world, a collectible that has reached sky-high prices.
The Nintendo World Championship is the first official video game competition in history. It was born 10 years earlier than the World Electronic Sports Championship (WCG).
Cause
In 1997, the Asian financial crisis broke out, and its harm spread to the whole world. South Korea's GDP growth regressed by 5.8% in 1998, the Korean won depreciated sharply by 50%, and the stock market plummeted by more than 70%. Koreans have noticed serious problems in the industrial structure of their country's economy: the pillar industries of the national economy are all export-based and are overly affected by changes in the world economic environment. After the financial crisis, the Korean government began efforts to change the industrial structure. Soon, South Korea's film and television industry, game animation industry began to receive government support and rapid development, and the e-sports industry, as a new force in the national economy, also received huge development opportunities!
Development
p>In 1998, "StarCraft" was released. The economic crisis has resulted in a large number of unemployed people, and many people use this game to pass the time. So a Korean TV producer had an idea and started producing "StarCraft"-related programs. On the one hand, funds were tight at the time and the cost of producing interstellar programs was low. On the other hand, someone discovered that this humble computer game had huge development opportunities. This accidental historical opportunity has created amazing Korean e-sports.
As of 2004, the annual output value of the e-sports industry in South Korea is approximately US$4 billion, and the value of its related industrial chains even exceeds that of South Korea's automobile industry.
Current situation
E-sports has been developing in the world for more than ten years, but except for South Korea, no other country has as complete an e-sports industry chain as South Korea. Many clubs and competitions are short-lived and will eventually go bankrupt due to losses. Although as early as November 2003, the General Administration of Sports recognized e-sports as the 99th sport officially launched in my country, this did not bring changes to the domestic e-sports industry.
In March 2013, after the General Administration of Sports decided to form a national e-sports team, He Chao commented on his Weibo: "E-sports is considered a sport? You can win Olympic championships even if you play games, so what about the rest of us?" All the hard work you have put into practicing the project has been in vain, let’s just play the game." This sparked heated discussions among netizens and attracted the attention of mainstream media to e-sports for the first time. Tens of thousands of people participated in the discussion on this topic, and the number of onlookers on Weibo was even as high as more than 20 million. A poll on Weibo shows that nearly 70% of netizens agree that e-sports is a sport, while a poll on People's Daily Online shows that only 20% of netizens agree that e-sports is a sport. Although afterwards the General Administration of Sports and CCTV News repeatedly stated that e-sports is a nationally recognized sport, this also illustrates the lack of public awareness of e-sports, the lack of mainstream media coverage, and the confusion of e-sports with ordinary game playing.
Despite this, e-sports has been developing in the world for more than ten years. With the continuous standardization of the industry and the attention of mainstream media, the trend of commercialization and standardization has become more and more obvious. Especially after the news of "e-sports bidding for the Olympics" came out, it caused an uproar. Whether it is hype or it is true. It shows that e-sports has already had a certain influence.
As an emerging competitive sports project, e-sports has developed into a human-to-human electronic game competition with the spirit of modern competitive sports.