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Being the best of the best with your favourite video game can lead you to make thousands of dollars in prize money, sponsorship deals and income from streaming platforms.

BRANTFORD (CUP) – With every new game release, connectivity is becoming increasingly common as a function of the game. While story mode is usually a solo adventure, to get the most out of the game, players often turn to playing multiplayer online, with friends or strangers.

Popular gaming franchises, such as Grand Theft Auto, Halo, Call of Duty and Star Wars Battlefront, have all taken advantage of online servers in order to increase worldwide connectivity among players. This can allow players to play with their friends, or people they don’t know, from anywhere in the world. Not everyone has friends who are always available to play, or they don’t share an interest in the game, so online servers allow for people to compete and have fun, without having to find someone they know to play with.

The increased popularity of online multiplayer has not only led to companies creating easily accessible servers to expand their gaming communities, but has also created a massive community of competitive players worldwide.

Competitive gaming, often known as eSports (short for “electronic sports”), is the gaming equivalent of professional sporting events, so much so, that the best of the best are considered professional gamers, and can earn thousands of dollars in prize money, sponsorship deals and income from their streaming platforms, according to Business Insider. Among these platforms are Twitch, a site made for gamers to stream their gameplay live, and YouTube, where gamers release their pre-recorded play-throughs (also known as “let’s plays”), earning revenue from advertisements and networking deals.

In a list created by eSports Earnings of the top 100 highest earning eSports player, the top two highest earning gamers have earned over 2 millions dollars each for professional gaming, with every other player on the list earning more than a quarter of a million dollars at least. Many of these players come from China and South Korea, and most of the top highest earning players specializing in Dota 2 (short for Defense of the Ancients).

With such high earnings and a massive market for competitive gaming, companies are beginning to take eSports seriously, and development tournaments and products that are taking eSports to the next level. The biggest example of this is ESPN’s newest development.

On Jan. 14, ESPN announced its launch of an eSports division that will cover professional eSports competitions. This isn’t the first time that ESPN has gotten involved in eSports, as it has previously covered tournaments for games such as Dota 2, League of Legends and Hearthstone. ESPN is taking a huge step in taking eSports seriously, and it’s only a matter of time until other organizations follow suit.