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How did Mind Sports set the Stage for eSports? | Culture of Gaming

In the past, sports were associated with physically fit athletes who had reached the top of their profession through rigorous body training and exercise.

In the past, sports were associated with physically fit athletes who had reached the top of their profession through rigorous body training and exercise. But, in recent years, the emergence of mind sports has proved that competition doesn’t always have to come down to who has more strength or physical ability. Games like chess and poker, which require a high level of intelligence and strategy, have become widely-watched spectator sports. It could be argued that the rise of mind sports such as these has paved the way for the booming eSports industry, which is growing at an astonishing rate.

What are Mind Sports?

poker strategy guide would only scratch the surface of what they need to learn to cut it with the pros. Beyond knowing which cards they should start with and what positions to play in, players need to sharpen their minds as they would a sword. Decision-making skills need to be worked on, just as how to get the best out of one’s energy levels. Top poker players can’t afford to get distracted or become sluggish and need to train their brains to avoid getting angry when situations of chance don’t go in their favor. Because the mind needs to be trained in such a way to play poker well, there is no doubting that it classifies as a mind sport. In terms of the skillset needed to be the best, it is up there with chess.

How did Mind Sports Pave the Way for eSports?

Major mind sports events have attracted viewers for over twenty years now. Events like the Mind Sports Olympiad have led to others such as the World Mind Sports Games, while the World Series of Poker has sparked tournaments like the European Poker Tour. These events differ hugely from traditional spectator sports, but the fact that they manage to garner high viewing figures shows that there is a huge market for unique forms of competition. This almost certainly laid the foundations for eSports.

The eSports industry is beginning to thrive after only really coming into existence a few years ago. In 2012 the global revenue generated from eSports was a mere $130 million but, by 2012 this is projected to rise to $1.6 billion. After mind sports events had paved the way for shining the spotlight on players’ intelligence and mental attributes rather than their physical skills, eSports has taken it one step further by turning alternative sports into a lucrative industry. The eSports championships that take place all over the world now completely outdo mind sports and the prize pools that players can win are getting enormous. An example of this is in the recent Fortnite competitive season where there was a whopping $100 million prize pool up for grabs. Prior to this, the largest prize pool in the history of eSports was the $24.6 million available at the 2017 DOTA 2 International.

Thanks to the rise of eSports, getting into games like Counterstrike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, Hearthstone, and League of Legends is actually considered to be a viable career path for the younger generation when they finish school. It has given people who may not be as lucky with their physical attributes a chance to use their brain skills to achieve salaries which can compare to those of leading sports stars.

All this stemmed from the mass amounts of people who began viewing mind sports like chess and poker. There is no doubt that eSports have a lot to thank the original mind sports for, as they laid the foundations for the video game competitions to thrive.

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