2 Popular Forms of International Online Gaming in 2020

In the past two decades, many industries may have benefited individually from the enormous development in digital infrastructure.

13:12 09 February 2020

The rise of the internet and the rapid adoption of smartphone technology but none like online gaming which has cashed in on all the three. The rise of the internet and the rapid advancement of smartphone technology in particular has meant that more and more people are going online to spend time watching videos, streaming their favorite content and playing games for fun and for pride. Online gaming, which is slowly transforming into one of the fastest growing internet phenomena, is raking in billions of dollars in revenue on a global scale and is still a far way away from being a fully mature industry.

Whether you’re looking for some serious multiplayer gaming action or are happy with the odd casual social gaming that can be played through a mobile app, there is something for everyone. There is a wide assortment of games in the online space today that you’re going to be spoilt for choice picking one. If you’re just starting out and are looking for some pointers on online gaming, here we take a look at some of the most popular forms of online gaming.

E sports

Egaming or Esports are professional video gaming competitions- usually tournaments or leagues organized by game developers and companies- for the gaming community, often for large sums of money, pride and prestige. Multiple teams from all over the world lock horns with each other and slug it out to stake claim for an attractive prize which could get as big as $1 million for high profile tournaments or leagues involving the best of the best.

Even though Esports is not completely new and has been around for several years in some form or fashion, it has just recently grown to a great extent chiefly on the back of the phenomenal success of games like League of Legends, Clash Royale, PubG, Call of Duty, Fortnite, Dota 2 and the like. The second half of the last decade in particular saw a surge in interest among passionate and professional video gamers across the world. Hordes of gamers all over the world decided to come together as a community and formed teams to take part in E-gaming competitions run by companies that had great prize money as well as fat sponsorship deals on offer.

Along with the community grew the platforms that took these games to the masses. The rise of popular streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube meant more and more people started getting involved in the sport either by or playing a small tournament themselves or tuning in to watch the event online or going to the arena to watch all the action in person with thousands of avid gaming fans. The rise in viewership of games particularly in genres like Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), Real Time Strategy (RTS) and First Person Shooter (FPS) led to more interest in new games that promise great playing and watching experience, allowing game developers to get a pulse of the market and come up with engaging titles.

All this means that this industry is up and alive, and no longer nascent. With supply and demand of both games and gamers improving, the industry is all set to scale new heights. According to industry research group Newzoo’s last year report, the global Esports industry was all set to hit its best year with revenues expected to soar over $1 billion in a single year-- a 27% jump as that of the previous year.

Sports Betting, Gambling and Fantasy Leagues

The second broad category of online gaming that has come a long way since its humble beginnings is sports betting and gambling. It’s not been an easy journey for the industry with several countries around the world making placing wagers on sports and gambling with money illegal.

Despite that, there is a constant influx of people to the sports betting community globally. More and more unregulated operators are looking to jump on the bandwagon and make some money out of avid gamblers willing to wager their money on overseas websites that are run illegally. A data firm based out of Switzerland estimated that there were around $1.7 trillion worth wagers placed annually with a good chunk of it going through unorganized and unregulated companies operating illegally without proper license.

In order to stop wagers from going through with such unregulated websites and black markets and lure more people to go about sports betting through a proper channel, several countries and states are now coming around to the idea of regularizing sports betting and making it legal and organized. Either way, the sports betting and gambling industry is expanding and expanding at a fair clip. It is all set for a big 2020 and a great decade, with several countries and states on the verge of passing resolution to legalize sports betting and gambling. The presence of popular websites and mobile apps for sports such as sportsbet and for gambling like Tuanpoker Situs Poker Online Terpercaya means that the industry is going to grow bigger and bigger with more people turning up online to try their hands at betting and gambling.

Drafting and managing a team of fantasy players is still continuing to hog the limelight, with lots of people showing keen interest to put their knowledge and awareness about a sport to good use to form a team and compete with other fantasy players. Along with the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) communities grow a number of publisher sites that blurt out content covering special tips and strategies on choosing the players that are expected to have maximum impact on the outcome of the game, and niche sites that put out numbers and statistics for the fantasy team players and sports bettors.

Overall, the face of the international online gaming industry has changed drastically. And it looks like it will continue to, with more companies popping up to cater to a hugely growing community of game and sports enthusiasts that are looking to get online to either professionally compete in tournaments playing their favorite video games, take part in fantasy leagues or place their wagers on sports betting websites and gambling websites. All in a bid to give themselves a good chance of making good money while having fun, and not just pass time merely watching a sport on TV and be done with it or playing a video game all by themselves.