Future is now for eSport

WHAT IS ESPORTS?
Simply, a competition that involves people playing video games against each other

WHICH IS THE MOST POPULAR ESPORT?
That's difficult to answer. However, the International Dota 2 Championship is the richest esports tournament in the world. 80 gamers from the world over qualified for the event. Dota stands for Defence of the Ancients.

It was the sixth edition of The International and paid out about $20 million ($20,770,460 exactly) in prize money. For comparison, the Indian Premier League is expected to pay out a total of about $8 million in prize money.

The winning team, Wings Gaming from China, split the $9,139,002 among its five gamers – that’s about $1.87 million each.

IS IT A SPECTATOR SPORT?
LoL – 38% & CS:GO – 39%

League of Legends & Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are similar in popularity among ‘eSports enthusiasts’ globally, who watch the games being played at least once a month

ASIAN GAMES & ESPORTS
Video gaming will be featured as a full sport at the 2022 Asian Games

The Olympic Council of Asia says it will introduce esports to the official programme of the Asian Games at Hangzhou, China

It will start as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia.

The OCA said the decision reflects "the rapid development and popularity of this new form of sports participation among the youth".

The council is collaborating with Alisports, a unit of China’s Alibaba Group, to bring esports to the games. No details were given on which video games would be included.

(Source: Newzoo 2017 Esports Market Report, AP)