The atmosphere in the competitor pen at the 2016 Capcom Cup in Anaheim, California, is weirdly tranquil despite the stakes. Theres a $230,000 cheque waiting for the winner, $60,000 for the runner-up. The room, snugly closed off from a shanty town of flight cases, stage lights and wires behind the sweeping stage is lined with sofas, on which the eight finalists sit. In 10 minutes they will emerge to a full house of hollers and applause, ready to make their bids in the annual competition to crown the best Street Fighter player in the world.
Many companies are placing sizeable bets on the future of eSports, and game publishers are looking to take more control. Last year Activision, the publisher of Call of Duty, created a dedicated eSports division headed up by Steve Bornstein, the former head of ESPN and the NFL Network. Later in the year, rival Electronic Arts publisher of the Battlefield series announced The EA Competitive Gaming Division. There are, nevertheless, challenges that stand between eSports and the kind of truly mainstream acceptance that traditional sports enjoy. League of Legends and its ilk are illegible to non-players; Street Fighter fares better as in its explosive animations, as its clear when one player has performed a spectacular move or comeback. Its possible the video game that has the best chance of mainstream adoption is Rocket League essentially football played with cars.
Regardless, eSports is a rich and popular enough ecosystem to support an increasing number of professional players. Ortiz joined Evil Geniuses, a California eSports organisation owned by Amazon, in 2010. Shes proven a worthy hire, as her place in the Capcom Cup Final, the first time shes reached this stage, testifies.
Ortiz resolves that she will be back but she is now one of the elder players in the scene. Many of her seniors have retired while others have expressed concern at what effect ageing might have on their prowess. I havent felt my physical abilities weakening yet, Umehara told me a few years ago. But I think I might be at the peak of my career as a fighting gamer. Any concerns Umehara might have had about his performance declining with age have proven unfounded. He remains at the top of his game. Perhaps times usual career-ending effects on athletes do not apply to all eSports.
https://www.theguardian.com/technol...ghter-v-fighting-game-2016-capcom-cup-esports