In the early 2000s, when the first professional eSports events were organized, many people were skeptical about the future of this form of competition involving video games. Today, even the biggest skeptics agree that electronic sports are one of the fastest-growing niches in the video game/sports industry.
We have seen many exciting breakthroughs in the last few years, and eSports have reached incredible milestones. In other words, this is no longer a niche limited to a small group of people but a mainstream activity that has grabbed the attention of the ordinary public. But, the story of eSports’ growth and development is not over, and experts agree that we can expect to see many thrilling things in this field soon.
This blog post will focus on the exciting things we can expect from eSports:
eSports betting
Truth be told, this form of digital entertainment is not something new, as more and more people wager thousands of dollars on eSports tournaments and matches. Online sportsbooks provide excellent esports odds that are similar to traditional sports odds – all the user needs to do is choose the tournament or event that they’re interested in, narrow down on the match, and place their wagers.
However, we can still expect this form of entertainment to evolve. One of the things we can expect is more online bookies with pages dedicated to this activity. This will make it easier for this category of players to find what they are looking for when they are interested in wagering real money.
In the past, sportsbooks provided betting options just a few days before the beginning of significant events. However, things are changing, and you can now predict the outright winner of a tournament week in advance. Also, certain niche competitions are available on betting sites.
The future of eSports betting will bring us more live betting options. Experienced bettors agree that it’s sometimes way more exciting to wager money in real time. All in all, more betting options will be presented to bettors, which will make eSports even more popular and profitable for the viewers and the participants.
eSports on mobile devices
So far, we are witnessing competitions on classic desktop computers. Undoubtedly, some games can’t be played on smartphones and/or tablets, but this doesn’t mean that the latest technology will not bridge this gap.
To be honest, more and more people use mobile devices for gaming, so this trend will inevitably affect eSports. It’s too early to predict whether we will see adjusted versions of existing popular eSports games for mobile devices or entirely new games that will be used in competitions. Still, one way or other, eSports are coming to mobile devices.
Such a trend will increase the popularity of eSports because it will be much simpler to practice not just at home but also on the go.
eSports becoming part of traditional multi-sport events
Did you know that tug-of-war was once part of the modern Olympic Games? When a simple game like that could be part of the Olympics, why not give eSports a chance like this? The days when people argued that electronic sports are not sports are gone.
Even the International Olympic Committee has recognized that on more than one occasion in the past few years.
The organizing committee for the 2024 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Paris, has already discussed the opportunity to promote eSports into official Olympics sports. They believe such a move will increase interest in this sporting event among the younger generations.
Other popular sporting events like the 2022 Asian Games have already made that move. Officially, eSports will be part of this competition, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the multi-sport event was moved to 2023, so we will have to wait to see how it will go.
According to the latest news, more and more events will include eSports, and the Commonwealth Games Federation is another example.
eSports meets VR
This is another area that we should focus on. Virtual reality has advanced a lot in the last decade, and the Metaverse craze has made it even more popular. Indeed, using a mouse and a keyboard or a gaming controller might look easier for most players, but specially designed controllers and VR headsets can take eSports to another level.
Players will enjoy a more realistic setting, which will be much better in fighting video games or first-person shooters. It isn’t easy to imagine how VR can help in real-time strategy games or sports games, but we will have to wait and see the innovativeness of VR companies.
Once virtual reality gradually enters the eSports market, we can expect new titles to be created for this subcategory of eSports.
Keep in mind that these are some things we can expect from eSports soon. This activity has proven to be one of the fastest growing and most innovative activities in the world of sports and video gaming.
