The world of eSports is currently dominated by highly aggressive first-person shooters, digital sports, and fighting games. But a new challenger has arrived! The world’s best eSports athletes could soon be joined by those who are aggressively good at competitive, digital farming – to the tune of €250k ($285.44k) in prize winnings. The Star has the scoop on the upcoming Farming Simulator league, which is slated to start sometime during mid-2019.
The Farming Simulator series is currently comprised of the most popular games of their type. It was developed by German gaming company Giants Software, whose CEO Christian Ammann explained why the game has such universal playability. “We believe we found the right mix of real farming and fun to play game elements to ensure everyone will find it entertaining,”. “We have lots of eSports enthusiasts in our company who can’t wait to show the world that farming can indeed be fun and competitive at the same time.”
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Teams of three players will compete in 10 different tournaments held across Europe, including events at Cologne’s GamesCom and Paris Games Week, and culminating at the Giants Software FarmCon in 2020. The gamers will be competing in Farming Simulator 19, the current version of the game, playable on Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4. And it’s actually not the first time for these competitors to battle it out professionally. In fact, the upcoming league was birthed from previous Farming Simulator Championships in 2017 and 2018 – virtual haymaking contests that even made it to Sweden’s Herofest.
Although the €250k in cash prizes for 2019’s Farming Simulation league still has a ways to go before it measures up to the millions of dollars in cash prizes that more popular eSports leagues have to offer, it’s a clear indication that the industry of eSports is on its way up the global revenue ladder. Industry experts actually consider 2018 as a landmark year for eSports, and the Newzoo project even estimates that the global eSports market could officially be worth more than $1.6 billion in total by 2021.
In addition to being stocked with massive prize purses, this means that digital gaming tournaments could soon be aligned with more mature digital industries like sports betting as well. This industry is already extremely popular across a series of UK programs and throughout the rest of Europe – and really, the whole world. Considering the latest developments concerning eSports, it’s by no means a stretch to imagine significant betting activity essentially pairing with large tournaments even more than it already does. And betting wouldn’t be the only partnership, so to speak, for major eSports. Tons of money has recently been pouring into this burgeoning industry by way of different sponsors, investors, and a variety of revenue streams.
In addition to sizable betting activity surrounding eSports, there is also investment money pouring into the sport. High-profile billionaire Mark Cuban has been putting money into eSports-related entities for years now, which has prompted other rich celebrities to take notice and invest money themselves. This includes Michael Jordan, who in October 2018 became part owner of the famed Team Liquid. Meanwhile, the popular Call of Duty World League has recently welcomed MTN DEW AMP and ASUS as their new sponsors – alongside previous sponsors SCUF Gaming, PlayStation 4, and ASTRO.
The upcoming Farming Simulator league itself has a range of impressive sponsors in its roster, including Noblechairs, Nitrado, Logitech, and manufacturing giant Intel. And given all of this activity and progress surrounding major eSports, those sponsors may only represent a beginning.
Maybe it’s time to brush up on our digital farming skills.
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