It is in the nature of man to compete with others in sports. It is basically of secondary importance whether this trial of strength takes place on the soccer field or the chess board. eSport is generally considered a very young sport, but its roots go back a long way.

eSports history: In the beginning was Pong

The history of eSports is closely linked to the development of computer technology. While there were first implementations such as “Tic-Tac-Toe” or chess as early as the 1950s, it was not until the 1970s that a scene developed that also ran games against each other as competitions. Pong” in particular was very popular at the time, but still had to be played in the classic way on arcade machines.

In the 1980s, Atari also initiated a “Space Invaders” competition with over 10,000 participants. In Germany, the Atari VCS Bundesliga was also formed in 1982, but did not last long. Nintendo also organized a world championship in the USA in 1990, where the best players could compete.

LAN parties and fast Internet promote development of eSports

In the mid-1990s, PCs became more affordable and later made it possible not only to exchange information over the Internet, but also to connect to other players via network cables. Back then, LAN parties sometimes brought together thousands of players to gamble with and against each other. The Electronic Sports League (ESL) and Clanbase quickly developed into the largest European e-sports leagues.

With the spread of fast Internet connections, eSports also became interesting internationally. In South Korea in particular, a veritable eSports boom developed at the end of the 1990s, with “Counter-Strike” and “Starcraft” becoming especially popular.

From 2000 to today: eSports becomes a worldwide mass phenomenon

After the turn of the millennium, the eSports scene was finally professionalized. In 2000, the first World Cyber Games (WSG) took place in Seoul, and in 2003, the first Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) was held in France. In the meantime, eSports competitions are also increasingly being held on consoles, such as Xbox and Playstation. In the meantime, the sport has also become a real mass phenomenon. The final of the League of Legends World Championship 2013, for example, was watched by over 10,000 spectators on site in Los Angeles. And the trend seems to be continuing unabated.