I’m a huge proponent of gaming history and preservation. I lived through a lot of eras of gaming, and remember it all. The LAN cafes and people going crazy overQuake III. People in my area trying to make it big in the fighting game community in local tournaments, and the bourgeoningHaloregional scene. And of course, the national phenomenon ofStarCraftoverseas. It was all fascinating to watch, but this very quick and enlightening esports growth chart visual aid really drives home how big some of these games were, and currently are.
Posted on Reddit by PieChartPirate, the esports growth chart starts at 1998 and ends in the present era, catalogingprize pools. At what is essentially the dawn of esports,Quake II, QuakeWorld(now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time), andStarCraft Brood Warwere at the top of the charts. In just one yearBrood Warcompletely shoots ahead, followed closely on its heels byQuake III Arena, which was gaining massive popularity with the rise of online play. Amazingly,Quake IIIpulls ahead, but the ominousCounter-Strikeappears.
In just several years, starting around 2003,Counter-Strikepulls ahead by a long shot and dominates by at least a million dollars (if not more)until 2014.At that point its reign is over, asLeague of Legends,StarCraft II,andDota 2are all in position and gaining popularity. From then on, given the massive amounts of cash Valve injects into the latter, it’sDota 2‘s game to lose.CS Goenters the fray as the second-highest total prize pool placeholder, followed byFortnitein third andLeaguein fourth.
There are so many stories told in this esports growth chart: each of which probably deserves its own symposium. One of my favorites is the low-key appearance ofAge of Empires IIin the early 2000s, and the fact thatDescent 3, a game I played mostly alone, had a $50,000 prize pool. It’s also sobering to just sit down and realize how much money Valve makes in a day, and how their chokehold over the esports scene has lasted nearly two decades.
[OC] Top 15 esports by total prize pool since 1998byu/PieChartPirateindataisbeautiful
