The Metaverse and Web3 are two of the most fascinating topics of today’s world. But in all this fascination we sometimes forget about the industry that single-handedly pioneered the concept of the virtual world, the video gaming industry. And whenever we want to talk about the gaming industry there is another very fascinating topic that comes out, esports.
web3
In simple terms, web3 is the decentralized internet, which is actually an idea of creating a more democratized Internet. Web3 is built on distributed technologies like blockchain and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) rather than centralized on servers owned by individuals or corporations.
The Metaverse
The Metaverse is actually a shorthand for virtual worlds, where users can interact with each other and engage with apps and services in a far more immersive way. The idea behind metaverse first came from the sci-fi novel Snow Crash, which described a virtual reality world.
Since then, the concept has gone mainstream in books and movies, like Ready Player One and The Matrix. This is a great combination of how technology is quickly mixing up with science fiction.
So, what is Esports?
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. At the time of writing this article both the players and viewers of this kind of sport.
Esports often take the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. The earliest known video game competition took place on 19 October 1972 at Stanford University for the game Spacewar. Until the late 2000s, all the competitions were mostly between rookies.
After the introduction of live streaming into the video game industry and the participation by professional gamers, the phenomenon called esports had a huge surge in popularity that by the 2010s esports was a significant factor in the video gaming industry.
By the late 2010s, it was estimated that the total audience of esports would grow to 454 million viewers, with revenue increasing to more than US$1 billion, with China accounting for 35% of the global esports revenue in 2020. The rising market of Southeast Asia is also very promising.
The most common video game genres associated with esports are multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), first-person shooter (FPS), fighting, card, battle royale, and real-time strategy (RTS) games. Popular esports franchises include League of Legends, Dota, Counter-Strike, Valorant, Overwatch, Street Fighter, Super Smash Bros., and StarCraft, among many others. Tournaments such as the League of Legends World Championship, Dota 2’s International, the fighting game-specific Evolution Championship Series (EVO), and Intel Extreme Masters are among the most popular in esports.
Esports in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a nation of youth. These days most of the youth of the nation spend their free time playing video games. So the market for new entertaining games is growing day by day but no significant achievements haven’t yet been made in esports. Esports is almost an untapped space for Bangladeshi gamers. But with the rising popularity of esports and the growing fascination in the youth for esports has made it very clear that Bangladesh isn’t going to stay behind for very long.
