It is fair to say that the growth of esports is unstoppable. In Latin America, as in many other parts of the world, the increase in the number of esports fans is notorious.
According to the local betting site, Dr Apuestas, esports has been extremely well received in Latin America, and every day new investors, training camps, teams, and organizations step forward to put their grain of sand toward esports. Along with new opportunities, the number of fans of esports competitions grows each day. Many professional players are increasing the popularity of esports by doing live streams on different platforms.
To put it simply, esports has taken the world by storm. Games like League of Legends and DOTA 2 are seeing massive success. Many countries in Latin America have their own leagues growing steadily every day and there is no telling what will happen next for this fast-paced gaming phenomenon!
Today, dear readers, let us take a look at esports and how its fan base has grown to billions in just a few years.
The start as an unappreciated hobby
While video games have been with us for almost three decades, the industry has experienced a huge spike in popularity in modern history. In the beginning, gaming was considered a simple hobby. One that carried a bit of stigma as a nerdy practice. At the time, young gamers would be scolded by their parents for wasting their time and money. Bullying was a fairly common concern for many gamers. Attempts to shut down video games were even made. Many detractors cite video games as a sort of violent influence on the younger generation. Time went by, and many controversies arose, yet the gaming world stood strong.
The change begins
Little by little, gaming stood the test of time, and the increasing popularity of new titles and sagas began influencing other media. The Resident Evil and Tomb Raider movie sagas are both based on extremely successful video game franchises. Both also set the stage for gaming to become more popular. Little by little, video games continued to amass followers, and social platforms like YouTube and Facebook contributed to this trend thanks to the rise of streamers. Young gamers took a chance at entertaining people by playing video games, and streamers took the gaming world on a new wave of popularity.
Esports Are Born
While gaming was now recognized and respected as a hobby and profession, it would still take a few years for video games to be remotely considered a sport. Even longer to be officially recognized as such. The creation of League of Legends, considered by many as one of the most influential games in history, set the basis for the birth of eSports. Little by little, the popularity of League of Legends brought new investors and organizations seeing the potential in the game. Sooner than later, professional League of Legends leagues were created. Right now, League of Legends is the leading esports game by a large margin. It has been recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Organization.
The increase
League of Legends’ professional world takes a lot of credit for the birth of esports and its popularity. There is a defining point in esports that makes them so popular. Most esports professionals are also streamers on different platforms, such as Twitch or Facebook Gaming. Not only professional players, but even casters and analysts work as streamers. A prime example is Twitch celebrity, Ibai Llanos. The Spanish caster has millions of subscribers on Twitch and is one of the most important figures in the Spanish esports media. The opportunity of interacting directly with fans, coaching them, or simply just chatting and getting themselves closer to their fandom, is an advantage that no other sport has.
No stop in sight
The continuous creation of new professional leagues, training camps, and games makes the increase in popularity of eSports a trend with no stopping in the near future. New stars rise each day to try and take the mantle of legends in the media, old legends fight their last battles to prove why they hold their titles; the age of online sports is here, and it is truly the latest step in the evolution towards the digital world.
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