Video games are big money — an $111 billion business according to Gartner — and not just through the sales of games, consoles, and in-game purchases. There are whole cottage industries around the gaming industry that include merchandise, gamer-related content, and eSports.
If you’ve never heard of eSports, the professional competition circuit of the gaming world, you aren’t alone. But as the events, prize money, and celebrity-making opportunity of eSports continue to grow, it’s likely eSports will become more mainstream.
And a televised competition last night may well have been the tipping point for the professional video game industry.