Who Is The Best Esports Player?

We take a look at the top five esports players in the world and try to determine who is the best of the best.

The birth of esports

In the early days of competitive gaming, the players who rose to the top were the ones who had the most time to spend practicing and perfecting their craft. With the birth of esports and the rise of professional gaming, that has all changed. Now, the best players in the world are the ones who are able to dedicate the most time to practicing and honing their skills.

The first esports tournament

The first recorded esports tournament took place on October 19, 1972 at Stanford University between students playing Spacewar. The Spacewar tournament had a single winner, Bruce Baumgart, who was crowned the “Intergalactic Spacewar Olympic Champion”.

In 1980, the Space Invaders Championship held in Tokyo attracted more than 10,000 participants, making it the largest video game competition at that time. The winner of the competition was 19-year-old David Thorpe, who received a trophy and a kiss from an attractive woman posing as an alien.

The popularity of esports tournaments continued to grow in the 1990s with the advent of widespread Internet connectivity. One of the earliest and most popular tournaments was RED Annihilation, a Quake tournament held in May 1997 that attracted more than 2,000 participants from around the world. The winner of the tournament was Dennis “Thresh” Fong, who went on to become one of the most successful professional gamers of all time.

With the growing popularity of esports, prize pools for tournaments have also grown exponentially. The largest prize pool in esports history is currently The International 2018 (a Dota 2 tournament), which had a prize pool of over $25 million.

The rise of competitive gaming

The origins of esports can be traced back to the early days of video gaming, with the first “gaming tournaments” taking place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. These tournaments were usually organised by game developers or video game magazines, and the first one to gain significant mainstream attention was Atari’s Space Invaders Championship, which took place in 1980 and attracted more than 10,000 participants.

The 1990s saw the rise of PC gaming and internet connectivity, which laid the foundations for modern esports. The first major esports tournament was held in 1997 – Red Annihilation – which was a Quake tournament with a $1,000 prize. This was followed by the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) in 1998, which is widely considered to be the first professional esports organisation.

The early 2000s saw the rise of console gaming and console-based esports leagues such as Major League Gaming (MLG). MLG helped bring esports to a wider audience by hosting tournaments across North America for popular console games such as Halo 2 and Gears of War.

The 2010s have seen a massive growth in esports, with organisations such as ESL (Electronic Sports League) and Major League Gaming hosting tournaments for a variety of games including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, League of Legends and Dota 2. These events typically have huge prize pools (often in excess of $1 million), and are watched by millions of people online.

There are now dozens of professional esports organisations around the world, with many of them signing professional gamers to compete in various tournaments. The best players in the world can earn millions of dollars through prize money, sponsorships and endorsements.

The best esports players

There are many great esports players in the world, but who is the best? This is a difficult question to answer. Different players have different strengths and weaknesses. Some players are better at certain games than others.

Faker

Faker is a South Korean professional League of Legends player. He is the mid laner for the SK Telecom T1 team. Faker was previously a part of the Star Horn Royal Club before joining SK Telecom T1 in February of 2013. He is considered by many to be the best League of Legends player of all time.

N0tail

N0tail is a member of the OG esports team, and is considered one of the best Dota 2 players in the world. He has won several international tournaments, including The International 2018 and 2019. He is also a two-time Major winner, having won the Manila Major in 2016 and the Boston Major in 2017.

s1mple

S1mple is a Ukrainian CS:GO player and is considered to be one of the best players in the world. He has won multiple tournaments with his team, Natus Vincere, and has even been nominated for an ESPY award. His aim is incredibly accurate and he always seems to be in the right place at the right time. He is also very good at reading his opponents and knows how to take advantage of their weaknesses.

The future of esports

The growth of esports

The popularity of esports has been growing rapidly in recent years, with more and more people around the world tuning in to watch professional gaming competitions. This growth is set to continue in the coming years, with the global esports market predicted to reach a value of nearly $1.5 billion by 2023.

With such rapid growth, it is no surprise that there is a lot of interest in who the best esports players are. While there are many talented gamers out there, only a few have managed to establish themselves as truly elite players.

One of the most successful esports players in recent years has been Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as “Faker”. Faker is a South Korean professional gamer who plays for the League of Legends team SK Telecom T1. He is widely considered to be one of the best League of Legends players in the world, and has helped his team to win several major tournaments.

Another top esports player is Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, a Ukrainian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player who currently competes for Natus Vincere. s1mple is considered to be one of the best Counter-Strike players in the world, and has won numerous tournaments throughout his career.

These are just two examples of some of the best esports players in the world today. With the rapid growth of esports, it is likely that we will see many more talented gamers emerge in the coming years.

The rise of professional gamers

As the popularity of gaming has increased, so too has the rise of professional gamers.

The term “esports” encompasses a growing number of organized, competitive video game events. Tournaments such as The International, The League of Legends World Championship and the Evolution Championship Series attract huge audiences both in person and online. These tournaments offer large cash prizes, and many professional gamers are now signed to esports teams that offer salaries, health insurance and other benefits.

The global esports economy is expected to grow to $696 million in 2017, according to research firm Newzoo. This growth is being driven by sponsorship deals, advertising, media rights and merchandise sales.

With the growth of esports comes the need for standardized regulations and practices. Many traditional sports organizations are already involved in esports, such as the International Olympic Committee and ESPN. The Esports Integrity Coalition was founded in 2016 to tackle issues such as doping, match-fixing and cheating in esports.

As esports continues to grow, we can expect to see more professional gamers signed to teams, more investment from traditional sports organizations and more standardization of rules and regulations.