“I was a very wicked Space Invaders player back in the arcade days, and that dates me,” he laughs. That gave me nightmares.” Today, slot green his go-to “turn off your brain” game is Scopely’s own Tripeaks Solitaire. But not having time to commit to mastering modern games, he remains in awe of the dedication and skill of esports pros — as well as the people behind-the-scenes who organize the tournaments.

There are seasons where teams play scheduled games which culminate in playoffs and major international events. More and more players now have contracts, and teams are increasingly investing in training facilities and headquarters. Teams will play a number of games across a season as to vie for top positioning in the league by the end of that season.

Recent Players

Though esports is also entertainment, there is a lot of hard work and dedication that an esport athlete puts in to become a professional. Esports requires a certain set of skills and training and is a professional sport which involves salaries and a specific pool of prize money. XP League’s professional coaches teach important skills such as sportsmanship and strategic thinking. Our gamer athletes experience all the benefits of being a part of a youth sports team. Following the success of the 2018 RLWC, the RLCS returned to the Copper Box arena for the 2022 Spring Major.

Players And Teams

Professional players and dedicated streamers are pressured by their teams to stream as much as possible in order to increase ad revenue, of which the players get a small fraction. They are also personally incentivized to create large amounts of content in order to stand out and gain sponsorships, which can lead to exhaustion and potential health risks from sitting hours on end. Distribution and access to the actual professional scene is a different matter entirely. Players need to have access to tools and resources to be able to make a living competing and working for an esports team or company. Consumers comprise a combination of teens and young adults, a demographic that has grown up with YouTube and free media and is likely unwilling to pay monthly subscriptions to watch a dedicated channel.

Strategy Game Genres

Despite fielding teams in the game since 2013, it took Team Liquid another two years before it started seeing real success in it. The team acquired a roster headed by longtime Dota veteran Kuro “Kuroky” Takhesomi in late 2016, with which it finished second place in two Majors and in the top 8 of TI6. Na’Vi was the team that won the first iteration of Dota 2’s premier tournament, The International, back in 2011. While the team started falling off in 2014 and is only a shadow of itself now, Na’Vi — along with its Dota poster boy Dendi — have achieved an unassailable status as legends of the game. Its LoL team notably became one of the representatives of the US at the 2018 League of Legends World Championship in South Korea. Such early successes have led to sponsorships from companies such as Razer, Red Bull Esports, and even the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, who have come to believe in the team’s future.