The Electronic Sports League awarded $2.5 million in prize money to winning teams during a very busy 2013, according to a post on their Twitter page.
The post shares several statistics gathered over the last year in an infographic, highlighting the increasing popularity of eSport competitions. Over 44 million hours of competition play were watched over Twitch, for example. Which is the same as, like, eight or so episodes of Downton Abbey.
2014 looks set to continue the trend, with the first major tournament being the EMS One Katowice Counter Strike: Global Offensive Championship held in Katowice, Poland this February.
In a press statement from ESL, CEO Ralf Reichart said:
“The last 12 months have brought about enormous changes in the eSports landscape. With production quality reaching ever-high levels and viewership growing at immense rates, public discussion has shifted away from critical evaluation of eSports to the simple question of ‘how fast will it continue to grow?’
“Building on over a decade of hard work from our team, this year was simply explosive and when I look at the numbers it is mind blowing to see how far we have come and what we have achieved. More defining than the numbers, for me however, were the moments; such as seeing 12,000 people going crazy in our first filled sports stadium in Katowice.
“It is these moments that we aim to replicate and expand upon in 2014. We at ESL are excited and eager for the new year in which we hope to fill more stadiums and to deliver legendary eSports moments to the many fans that have made this all possible.”
