The rise of eSports in Movies and Documentaries
Year after year the prize money rises, more and more players are following their favorite teams live on the net. The popular MOBA League of Legends is played monthly by 67 million players, a number which exceeds the population of France. In Dota 2 tournaments, the prize money has multiplied by a factor of ten in the last four years: At the end of 2011, the World Cyber Games had a prize pool of 6,000 US dollars, while this year's International Tournament cracked the 15 million. At the same time, we see football and other sports clubs around the world put their own eSports teams under their names to benefit from the hype.
In 2017, eSports have become symbolic of state-of-the-art entertainment, excitement and communities gather all over the world to share news, highlights, game odds, guides and the newest events. Moreover, there seems to be an emerging market for eSports betting, as evident by dedicated eSports bookmaker websites such as Master Mazuma. Games in eSports betting include Counter Strike, League of Legends, Vain Glory, Quake, Smite and more.
Even Hollywood has discovered eSports and is set to produce an as yet unnamed movie starring Will Ferrell as a professional eSports player. Given that most professional gamers begin their careers in their mid-teens and typically retire in their mid-twenties for the most part due to the decrease in hand-eye coordination as well as an increase in reaction time, you can expect this comedy to include generational differences and potentially be a fish-out-of-water story. In his long and successful career, actor Will Ferrell has already slipped into many roles and caused the audience to laugh as an announcer (Anchorman - The Legend of Ron Burgundy), policeman (The Other Guys) and sporting roles such as ice skater (Blades of Glory) and NASCAR driver and superstar (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby).
In July 2015, the world of eSports was captured on celluloid in the gaming documentary All Work All Play: The Pursuit of eSports Glory. Not only covering the gaming action of the competitions but also accompanying the top players and well-known eSports personalities on their way to championship titles, the film gives an exclusive insight into the professional gaming scene during the Intel® Extreme Masters Tour.
Although a little older, the 2013 Documentary State of Play examines how the Starcraft League has made a huge impact on the highly competitive Koreans on a national level, expanding from pro gamers being celebrities into all levels of popular culture. Another documentary, Free to Play, covers the landmark DOTA 2 International Tournament that set an eSports milestone with its $1,000,000 prize. When it comes to action and energy, Street Fighter Tournaments are hard to beat and the documentary Focus does an admirable job in capturing the excitement and audience engagement similar to what you would expect to experience at a professional wrestling event.
ESports will continue to change. New games are going to be on the rise. But one thing is certain: as long as there are eSports, there will always be films that deal with the tension, the successes and the motivation of the scene.