If you’ve even the faintest interest in video gaming, you’ve undoubtedly come across the concept of competitive gaming. Sure, gamers have been competing against each other since the gaming industry first began; competition was at the heart of those very earliest arcade games, with players determined to beat their friends to the top of the high score levels. However, in the modern gaming landscape, competitive gaming has come to mean something different.
If you’re looking to add a more challenging element to the games that you play, or if you’re even considering tipping your toes into eSports, read on for our introduction to the exciting world of competitive gaming.
Introducing eSports
Let’s be honest, eSports requires no introduction in 2022; it’s one of the fastest-growing gaming segments and is pulling in investments from all manner of major brands. eSports essentially refers to competitive gaming at a professional level, though it can include amateur participation as well. Much like in traditional sports and athletics, the world’s best eSports players are revered as heroes and command lucrative salaries.
On a more grassroots level, eSports can be seen as the natural extension of playing multiplayer games for hours and hours on end. Once you’ve mastered a game and beaten everyone in your friendship circle, seeking out new opponents to play against is simply the next step in your gaming journey.
While the eSports teams that form the upper echelons of the pro gaming industry are notoriously tough to break into, as an amateur, you’ll be surprised just how many clubs, teams and tournaments are accessible to you. It’s even possible to study video gaming at University, indicating just how mainstream this concept has become.
iGaming
iGaming is an innovative sector of the digital gaming industry that involves online real-money gaming or wagering. While it may not be the first sector that springs to mind when it comes to competitive gaming, in recent years, there’s been a big emphasis placed on operators to diversify their products to deliver enhanced levels of competition between players.
For a long time, the poker vertical has offered the most competitive gaming options via online championships and tournaments. More recently, the casino vertical has expanded into multiplayer gaming. Leading brands like LuckyLand Slots run sweepstakes opportunities on their slots online, as well as social-gaming focused play money tournaments in which gamers can compete to be top of the leaderboard.
Mobile Multiplayer Gaming
Whereas mobile games were once a novelty, in the current gaming landscape, mobile gaming apps can offer the same engaging experiences as PC or console games. With mobile game development having progressed at an astonishing rate over the past decade, players are spoilt for choice with the variety of games that are available, many of which aren’t confined to the limitations of single-player gaming.
One of the strongest current mobile gaming trends is that of mobile multiplayer gaming. Both Android and iOS gaming devices now feature heavy-duty processing units that have the capability to run complex multiplayer gaming apps that stand up well against PC or console games. Several games have been released onto the mobile platform in the battle royale genre, such as PUBG Mobile and Garena FreeFire, to community and critical acclaim.
More recently, InnerSloth’s hit online multiplayer game Among Us has arrived on Android devices, showcasing exactly what’s possible for cross-platform play on mobile devices in the process.
Conclusion
As you can see from just the three examples above, the modern gaming industry involves far more than single-player gaming. There are opportunities to play a whole range of games on a competitive basis, whether you’re attracted to the ease of gaming on the go or even fancy trying your hand at slot gaming sweepstakes.
