Difference Between eSports and Virtual Sports

eSports have undoubtedly become more and more popular within the media these days, meaning you are very likely to hear the term pop up, if not be actively part of the digital realm. After all, eSports can be in the pursuit of the gaming process itself, or at the opposite end of the scale, where gambling is involved alternatively. The industry of eSports has expanded exponentially, and for that very reason, we see so much involvement in this sector from all angles of multiple industries. It is very easy to see how the understanding of what both entities separately are can sometimes be an issue. Not only are both very similar in terminology, both can be enjoyed digitally too!

A common confusion that people have is they mix up eSports and Virtual Sports, insinuating that they are the same. This is far from the case. In this article we will be comparing how eSports sways more to console gaming and Virtual Sports accommodates a range of sports such as horse racing and football.

So, the question really is, what are the main differences between eSports and Virtual Sports?

eSports Explained

eSports are often also referred to as professional gaming, due to that actually being the true nature of eSports, there are many eSport gamers that have managed to make great amounts of money and fame for themselves, through the pursuit of this field. The ‘e’ in eSports, actually stands for electronic sports, meaning understandably, you can understand where the confusion could arise from. However, do keep in mind that, this does not mean that you see footballers going onto a field, Taser at the ready, but rather all the sports are carried over onto the realm of the internet-where computers are the main tools to carry out the process.

You could imagine the scenario where a Fifa player wins a huge tournament, and ends up being able to go home with a huge jackpot amount of money, right? Well that is essentially how eSports works, but not with the Fifa tournaments. One of the biggest jackpots ever in eSports, gave out over $!0 million dollars as the prize money, and it is believed that over 173,000 turned up to watch it all take place. This was for one of the most popular eSport games known as League of Legends, which has fans located globally in every nook and cranny of the world!

What are the best games in eSports?

Of course, we did mention one above, which happens to be the most popular eSport game of all time on the market at the moment. Other examples are listed down below.

  • Fortnite
  • League of Legends
  • StarCraft II
  • PlayersUnknown Battlegrounds
  • Overwatch
  • Hearthstone
  • Heroes of the Storm
  • Arena of Valor
  • CS:GO

When it comes to playing eSports games, it is believed that they have contributed to around £600 million in generated revenue worldwide. However, these figures are far from recent, 2022 is estimated to be the biggest yet. One that will actually exceed global revenue beyond the billion-dollar mark. League of Legends is, of course, the pioneer of the industry and one of the biggest reasons for its exceeding potential. Combine this opening with the integration of blockchain technology, and that will drive the numbers of users and revenue up beyond all expectations.

Virtual Sports Explained

Virtual sports are very interesting to people as it involves physical actions from real people who participate in the playing of the sports online. Virtual sports can be manipulated by the actions of the player who would be able to do so from a computer screen, however that certainly does allow other viewers to watch (like eSports) to virtually log into a computer and actually play a couple games of fifa, for satisfaction and the outcome of the sports themselves. While both eSports and virtual sports are done via technological outputs, you will find that eSports is played in real time, involving real people and not just a computerised system. This therefore then allows for the opportunity of gambling and interaction of other possibilities for viewers who are fans of eSports. You cannot see this happening in Fifa however, can you?

Random Number Generator

Within the world of virtual eSports, there are random number generators that integrate within the algorithm of the games, to ensure that the outcome of the virtual games is not pre-conditioned and therefore give the players and gamers unfair advantages to win. While that is not necessarily available within the world of eSports, as everything continues to happen by a standard of real-time gameplay. The eSport gamers play against each other and therefore determine their own fate accordingly.

By reading this article you should have come to understand that the world of eSports is live-in-the-moment gaming, meaning there is the opening for gambling, and viewership from fans all over the world-much like physical real-life sports for example. However, virtual sports are gaming outlets that involve gaming consoles, fixed computer algorithms, and are therefore played recreationally with no possibility of creating a jackpot prize pot of money from the success and win.


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Last Updated: Nov 22, 2021

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