From Pong and Space Invaders to the immersive and jaw-dropping titles of today, video gaming has undergone an incredible evolution over the past 40 years and the growth of online gaming since the Millennium eventually spawned the eSports revolution we’re seeing today.
For many, the eSports world is still shrouded in mystery, however, it is now a billion-dollar industry with household names like CS:GO, Dota 2, League of Legends, Overwatch and Fortnite dominating the space.
The multiplayer online games now have massive professional leagues with teams who compete in tournaments around the world for huge cash prizes. Esports was set to debut in the Olympics later this year in Asia 2022 before the event was postponed, though it should be a staple in the prestigious games from now on.
With its popularity on a firm upward trajectory, eSports betting has hit the mainstream in recent years and betting sites everywhere have been getting in on the action.
Like other sports, punters can enjoy a wide variety of betting markets and eSports bets, with lines that allow you to bet on the outcome of an individual game, on the number of maps there will be or even the first team to record a kill in the many shooter games that feature.
eSports is similar to other types of sports betting in that bettors can analyse stats, form and teams to find patterns worth backing, while tournament ante-post markets that allow you to predict who might win a tournament outright are also carried by eSports betting sites.
Like any new sport, there is a learning curve involved and once up to speed you can place eSports bets on fighting games like Street Fighter and Tekken, Racing games like the big-hitting Formula One and Grand Turismo Sport releases, Sports titles like FIFA and Madden and multiplayer online battle arena games that include League of Legends, Dota 2 and Smite.
Elsewhere, there are also Digital Card games (Hearthstone, Shadowverse), first-person shooters (Doom, Counter-Strike) and real-time strategy games (StarCraft, Warcraft III) to consider, giving eSports betting fans plenty to sink their teeth into.