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What makes a video game an esport? Competitive titles explained

A game’s status as an esport rests on its popularity and organized leagues. Well-balanced and fair multiplayer games are the most likely to reach esports status. PvP games are often esports, whereas single-player titles are rarely considered esports. Sustained popularity and community engagement are critical in esports, especially through influential streamers and pro players. The […]

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What makes a video game an esport? Competitive titles explained


Two gamers wearing headsets sit at computers, focused on their screens with a vibrant, cheering crowd in the background.
  • A game’s status as an esport rests on its popularity and organized leagues.
  • Well-balanced and fair multiplayer games are the most likely to reach esports status.
  • PvP games are often esports, whereas single-player titles are rarely considered esports.
  • Sustained popularity and community engagement are critical in esports, especially through influential streamers and pro players.
  • The line between games and esports is fluid; unconventional formats like speedrunning and niche titles (e.g., Farming Simulator, GeoGuessr) are increasingly recognized as esports.
  • Esports is projected to grow in popularity in 2025, possibly introducing leagues for more competitive games.

Despite its growing popularity and cultural relevance in 2025, esports is still hard to define. The relationship between gaming and esports – where one stops and the other begins – is often murky. As a result, there are many interpretations of what counts as esports. To define what makes a video game esports material, we must go back to the basics.

Esports, or electronic sports, is sometimes colloquially referred to as competitive gaming. However, not all competitive gaming is considered esports. Despite its popularity with FPS gamers, the Titanfall franchise has never had a major esports league, for example. 

This article will dive into what makes a video game an esport and how leagues are started.

What defines an esports game?

Even in video games considered esports, like League of Legends and Counter-Strike, online ranked matches played between ordinary gamers are typically not considered esports. This stands in contrast to traditional sports, where even friendly matches between amateurs are widely considered to be a sports activity.

While exact wording differs, esports is most commonly defined as organized video game competitions played for spectators. These are usually online virtual tournaments or in-person events, played for online viewers or a crowd.

However, not all games that feature competitive gameplay are considered esports titles in popular conception. Rather, the label of esports is typically reserved for games that have sustained established esports scenes surrounding them.

This usually takes the form of regular leagues, tournament circuits, or other competitions that attract large audiences. Games that get updated regularly are prime material for a new esports league, as balancing patches are essential for any multiplayer title.

Athletes can make or break esports

Though the game itself and its popularity are both important factors in becoming an esport, the way athletes and coaches interact with fans can have a huge effect, too. Games with athletes and streamers who interact with their audiences may help increase viewership for a potential esports league.

Professor Jason Chung is a sports researcher who offered unique insight about the development of competitive video games during the Sports & Active Nutrition Summit in 2022. Chung explained that North American esports are centered around popular personalities, who may help grow the esports industry as a whole. He said:

“In North America, esports is all about gamers’ personality and how they engage their audience.”

Game industry expert Alan Chou explained how he believes esports was born in a LinkedIn post from 2019, which includes the addition of popularized story arcs for athletes and teams. He wrote:

“Established sports do a great job of painting a story arc for viewers. There is a beginning, middle, and end. There are heroes and villains, and there are ups and downs. In today’s short-form dominated media, it is harder to do storytelling in a compressed amount of time. But if done correctly, this leads to an emotional payoff at the end. People like that.”

If a community of online personalities can bring a multiplayer game to the forefront of platforms like YouTube and Twitch, viewers can easily transition between watching their favorite streamers casually and rooting for them in a competitive setting.

Examples of esports games

Minecraft allows for player-vs-player combat, which can become competitive, but Minecraft is not generally considered an esports title because the competitive scene in the game is minor. Though individually-owned servers might host the Hunger Games or other casual tournaments, this still isn’t enough to earn esports status in 2025.

Gambling and betting, while not an essential criterion for esports, are another factor that helps solidify a game’s presence on the global stage. The most notable leagues will typically appear on esports gambling sites, which bolster their popularity.

Another common criterion is whether the video game has a core focus on competitive game modes. Counter-Strike, Dota 2, VALORANT, Street Fighter, and other leading esports titles all have competitive player-vs-player modes as their core gameplay, for which numerous popular tournaments and leagues exist. 

Nonetheless, modest esports scenes have developed around some games without competitive PvP game modes at their core.

How big does a game’s competitive scene need to be to count as an esports?

Ultimately, the question of how big an esports scene has to be before it is considered an esports title is subjective and varies according to the whims of popular opinion. While the subjective elements above are informally agreed upon by many, the consensus of which games count as esports changes over time. 

As esports has grown as an industry and phenomenon, the concept has broadened to become more inclusive. These days, many games that are not considered esports titles are developing competitive communities of their own

Unconventional forms of competition, like speedrunning, are increasingly seen as esports. Speedrunners compete to complete a game or piece of in-game content in the quickest time possible. An example is World of Warcraft’s Race to World First, where players race to beat computer-controlled characters rather than each other.

Niche, not-traditionally-competitive games are developing dedicated esports communities, including Farming Simulator and even GeoGuessr. As chess is more frequently played and broadcast online, the 1500-year-old game is also increasingly seen as an esport.

Is esports’ popularity on the rise?

Yes, esports popularity is on the rise internationally. More viewers are tuning in to each competition, especially for popular games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike. 

According to Esports Charts, the League of Legends Worlds in 2024 reached a peak viewership of 6.94 million, up from 2023’s Worlds, which reached around 6.4 million.

A near 10% increase in viewership is massive if it occurs each year. As esports grow in popularity, we may see the creation of additional leagues for less-popular competitive titles, like anime fighters and Nintendo games. Overall, esports viewership is projected to increase in 2025, so this phenomenon should only keep getting bigger.

DemandSage reported that the esports audience is expected to reach a new high of 640 million in 2025, as the total viewership has increased each year. Smaller esports leagues still retain limited viewers, but they’ll likely grow with the industry.

Conclusion

Technically, competitive PvP video games with significant tournament infrastructure form the core of what are considered esports titles. However, players have found ways to make almost any form of video game competitive. 

Speedruns are becoming a solid way to compete against other players, while games like League of Legends still occupy the forefront of the esports industry.

Ultimately, it is up to the fan bases that surround each game to decide whether it meets esports criteria, but organizers also need to be involved for new leagues to gain popularity. 

Many more games may be considered esports in the future, but for now, they are generally titles that have a large multiplayer scene for solo or team-based competition.

What makes a video game an esport?

Regular competitive tournaments and the organization of leagues internationally typically help mold a multiplayer video game into an esport. Other factors include popularity and the presence of a large online community.

What are the key features of esports?

The key features of esports usually include immense popularity, online multiplayer, and regular updates by the game’s developer. Esports games also often have support from their developer or publishers.

What classifies a game as esports?

The features of an esports title are different from its classification. Typically, an esports game should be well-balanced so that every competitor has a fair chance to win. In addition to skill-based gameplay, an esports game must have an organized structure for its leagues and teams.

References

  1. https://www.newhaven.edu/news/blog/2022/jason-chung.php (New Haven)
  2. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-makes-game-esport-title-alan-chou (LinkedIn)
  3. https://escharts.com/tournaments/lol/2024-world-championship-lol (Esharts)
  4. https://escharts.com/tournaments/lol/2023-world-championship (Escharts)
  5. https://www.demandsage.com/esports-statistics/ (DemandSage)

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Reilly Named to USA Volleyball’s VNL Roster

Story Links COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Pepperdine junior libero Jacob Reilly has been named to the USA Volleyball Men’s Senior National Team and will compete in the Volleyball Nations League this summer.   Reilly is the first Pepperdine men’s volleyball player to earn a spot on the senior national team […]

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Pepperdine junior libero Jacob Reilly has been named to the USA Volleyball Men’s Senior National Team and will compete in the Volleyball Nations League this summer.
 
Reilly is the first Pepperdine men’s volleyball player to earn a spot on the senior national team since Sean Rooney in 2013. The event, governed by the FIVB, features the world’s top national teams and includes competition stops in Rio de Janeiro; Chicago; and Kanto, Japan. Matches will stream live at tv.volleyballworld.com, with schedules and additional information available on the FIVB website.
 
In his first season at Pepperdine, Reilly averaged 1.8 digs per set and posted a .954 reception percentage, committing only 26 reception errors on 621 attempts. He led the conference in reception efficiency, recording the most total attempts with the fewest errors. During March, he allowed just three reception errors on 139 attempts, helping Pepperdine finish second in the MPSF in fewest service aces allowed (128) and leading the Waves to their seventh MPSF Championship and 19th NCAA tournament appearance.
 
STAY CONNECTED
Keep up with all things Pepperdine Athletics by following the Waves on X and Instagram and find more on PepperdineWaves.com.
 
 





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Princeton University

Five Princeton student-athletes have been named finalists for the 2025 William Winston Roper Trophy which is awarded annually to a Princeton senior man of high scholastic rank and outstanding qualities of sportsmanship and general proficiency in athletics. Presented by Mrs. William W. Roper and the Class of 1902. The William Winston Roper Trophy will be […]

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Five Princeton student-athletes have been named finalists for the 2025 William Winston Roper Trophy which is awarded annually to a Princeton senior man of high scholastic rank and outstanding qualities of sportsmanship and general proficiency in athletics. Presented by Mrs. William W. Roper and the Class of 1902.

The William Winston Roper Trophy will be presented at the Gary Walters ’67 Princeton Varsity Club Awards Banquet on Thursday, May 22nd starting at 5:00 p.m. ET. For more information on the 2025 banquet, click here.

Meet the 2025 finalists!

Nicholas Lawson | Men’s Fencing

Nicholas Lawson, a physics major from New York, N.Y., bookended his Tiger career not just with bids to the NCAA Championships, but with All-American honors. As a rookie in 2022, he won 16 of 23 pool bouts at the NCAAs to qualify for the top-four individual semifinals, and once there, he defeated Penn’s Emon Deroian 15-11 to make the NCAA final. Lawson returned to the NCAA Championships in 2025, winning 12 pool bouts to finish ninth and earn his second All-American honor.

Along with the NCAA accomplishments, Lawson was a two-time U.S.F.C.A. first-team all-region honoree in 2024 and 2025, and he earned first-team All-Ivy recognition in 2025 while helping Princeton to its second straight Ivy League title. Lawson was an academic honoree as well, being included as a U.S.F.C.A. All-Academic Scholar of Distinction in 2023 and selected as the team’s Academic All-Ivy honoree in 2025.

 

Coulter Mackesy | Men’s Lacrosse

Coulter Mackesy is the all-time leader in goals scored in a career for the Princeton men’s lacrosse team, breaking a program mark that stood for 27 years. He is also one of three players in program history with at least 100 career goals and 80 career assists, and holds the Princeton single-season record for goals with 55, which he accomplished as a sophomore. Mackesy, a sociology major from Bronxville, N.Y., is second among all active Division I players in career goals and career points and his 238 career points rank third in program history.

 

A two-time unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection, Mackesy is also a 2025 Tewaaraton Award finalist, a 2025 first-team All-American by USA Lacrosse Magazine and a three-time Tewaaraton top 25 nominee. A member of the 2024 Ivy League all-tournament team, Mackesy led the Tigers to two Ivy League Tournament titles during his career as well as four consecutive NCAA Tournament berths. His senior campaign has seen the Tigers ranked top-3 nationally, and a win this Saturday would mark Markesy’s second trip to Final Four Weekend. In addition he was also the fourth overall selection in the recent Premier Lacrosse League draft.

Roko Pozaric | Men’s Water Polo

Roko Pozaric is a four time All-American and three time conference player of the year for Princeton men’s water polo. He is Princeton’s all-time leading goal scorer with 281 tallies while also ranking second all-time in assists, ranking Pozaric as arguably the best player in program history. An economics major from Zagreb Croatia, Pozaric made an immediate impact when he arrived at Princeton, being named the Northeast Water Polo Conference Rookie of the Year and Rookie of the Tournament on his way to his first All-American honors. 

 

In 2023, Pozaric had a career year and received recognition as the NWPC Tournament MVP and was named a Cutino Award finalist, an award presented annually by the Olympic Club to honor the nation’s most outstanding Division I male and female water polo athletes. He has helped transform the program into a national contender, winning the conference title four years in a row, making it to the Final Four in 2023 behind a program record 28 wins, finishing ranked fifth in the country the last two seasons and beating two of the water polo “big four”, in Cal and Stanford, during his career. Pozaric is a four time First Team All NWPC performer, 14-time conference player of the week and won an astonishing 90% of his sprints over his four years with the Tigers.  

 

Henry Wedbush | Men’s Volleyball

Henry Wedbush is the heart and soul of the Princeton men’s volleyball program. He was named the 2025 EIVA Player of the Year, becoming just the second player in program history to earn the award. Wedbush led the Tigers through an incredible season, hallmarked by an EIVA Regular Season Championship. Among the nation’s best, he was named a 2025 All-America Honorable Mention. An economics major from Manhattan Beach, Calif., Wedbush finished his career with 2867 assists, averaging 8.77 a set. His senior season, Wedbush averaged 9.51 assists per set to put him at 24th in the nation. During the EIVA semifinals, Wedbush made a career-high 52 assists to help the Tigers advance to their third EIVA final during his four years. 

 

In 2022, first-year Wedbush was part of the Princeton squad that defeated Penn State to win the EIVA championship. This year as a senior,  Wedbush guided the team as the Tigers defeated Penn State on the road to clinch the EIVA regular season title. In addition to being named Player of the Year, Wedbush was also named to the First Team All-EIVA for the second-consecutive year, while being named to the Second Team his sophomore year. As a setter, Wedbush’s role on the court involves setting others up for success – a responsibility he excelled in with his leadership both on and off the court. 

 

Harrison Witt | Men’s Track and Field

A three-time Ivy Champion, Harrison Witt has been a leader and an exceptional competitor for Princeton men’s track and field. In addition to his individual titles in the 1000, which he earned in 2022 and 2025, and the 1500, won this outdoor season, Witt is also a three-time Second Team All-Ivy honoree. Witt has rewritten the Princeton record books, currently holding the records individually for the 1000m, the mile, and the 1500m. He also anchored the 2025 distance medley relay squad that set a new Ivy record in the event. Showcasing his breadth of talent, Witt is on the leaderboard for the indoor and outdoor 800ms and the 4×800 relay. Witt is also a cross country Second Team All-Ivy honoree where he helped lead the Tigers to the 2024 Cross Country Championship. 

 

Witt, an operations research and financial engineering major from Highlands Ranch, Colo., has raised the standard of success for Princeton at both the conference and national level. A two-time NCAA competitor, Witt helped the Tigers take fourth place in the DMR at the 2022 NCAA Championships, earning himself All-America honors. This indoor season, Witt finished in the top-10 in the mile at the NCAA championships, putting him in the top 20 of NCAA Division I performances all-time in the event. After working to come back from injury during his junior Fall, Witt has continuously worked to push his performance to new heights while leading the Tigers to collective championship success, including 11 total Heps team titles and three Triple Crowns during his career.  



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Sheldon Qualifies for NCAA Outdoor Championships in High Jump

Story Links NCAA Championship Selections SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Sophomore Ashley Sheldon is heading back to the national championships for the second straight year, as she was selected to compete in the high jump at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the NCAA […]

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SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Sophomore Ashley Sheldon is heading back to the national championships for the second straight year, as she was selected to compete in the high jump at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the NCAA announced on Friday evening.
 
Sheldon is one of 22 student-athletes to qualify for the national championship in the high jump, making her only the third Union women’s outdoor track and field athlete to be selected for the national meet. Noemie Bechu ’17 twice qualified for the 400-meter dash during her sophomore and junior seasons in 2015-16, while Janice Glidden ’85 made nationals in the heptathlon back in 1982.

Sheldon qualified for the meet with a program record-matching leap of 1.67 meters (5’5.75″) at the Liberty League Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 3, winning her second conference title (and first outdoors) in two years. Her leap tied her for the 20th-best height in Division III this year, and she will be seeded in a tie for 19th at nationals. Allie Wildsmith of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy has the country’s best leap so far this outdoor season, clearing 1.78 meters (5’10”) in mid-April.

“We’re so proud of all the hard work Ashley put in this year to get to this point,” said head cross country and track & field coach Laura Nardelli. “She has battled through an ankle injury since her soccer season, and we finally decided to give her some time off over Spring Break to get her closer to full strength for the outdoor season. She’s so much stronger and more confident now, and just in the last couple of weeks has shown that she’s ready to hit some big marks.”

In two years, Sheldon already owns the school record in the indoor and outdoor high jump as well as the outdoor 100-meter hurdles, the indoor 60-meter hurdles and the indoor triple jump. The three-season student-athlete also is a two-year starter on defense for the women’s soccer team during the fall as well.

The 2025 NCAA Division III outdoor track and field championships run from Thursday, May 22 to Saturday, May 24 at the SPIRE Institute’s Outdoor Track & Field facility in Geneva, Ohio. Sheldon will compete on Friday’s second day of competition, with the women’s high jump set to begin at 11:30 a.m.  

 



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Volleyball Signs Five for 2025

By FHSU Sports Information Fort Hays State head volleyball coach Jessica Wood-Atkins has announced the 2025 Tiger volleyball signing class. The group of five incoming… Previous Post New Exhibition at the Deines Cultural Center in Russell Next Post Awards presentations highlight spring semester convocation Link 0

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By FHSU Sports Information Fort Hays State head volleyball coach Jessica Wood-Atkins has announced the 2025 Tiger volleyball signing class. The group of five incoming…



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Four Oles qualify for NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Story Links Men’s Qualifiers Women’s Qualifiers GENEVA, Ohio – Four members of the St. Olaf College men’s and women’s track and field teams qualified for next week’s 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, as announced on Friday […]

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GENEVA, Ohio – Four members of the St. Olaf College men’s and women’s track and field teams qualified for next week’s 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, as announced on Friday evening.

Junior Isabel Wyatt and senior Alison Bode will represent the women’s team, while juniors Ignatius Fitzgerald and Kevin Turlington will compete for the men’s team at the national meet. The event will be held at the SPIRE Institute Thursday through Saturday, May 22-24.

Wyatt will compete in her first NCAA Outdoor Championships as the No. 16 seed in the 800-meter run (2:09.44) after earning Second Team All-America honors in the event with a ninth-place finish indoors this year. The junior will run in the prelims at 3:15 CT on Friday. The finals will be held at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday.

Bode will run in the 10,000-meter run at the national meet for the third season in a row after earning the No. 15 seed (35:35.82). The senior is a two-time All-American in the event after finishing ninth last year and eighth as a sophomore. The 10,000-meter run will be contested at 8:15 CT on Thursday.

A first-time national qualifier in track and field, Fitzgerald is the No. 7 seed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:52.30). The junior will race in the prelims on Thursday at 6:10 p.m. CT hoping to earn a spot in the finals the next day at 3:40 p.m. CT.

Turlington is the No. 21 seed in the 5,000-meter run (14:11.84) in his first outdoor national meet after claiming Second Team All-America honors with an 11th-place national finish indoors earlier this year. The event will be contested at 3 p.m. on Saturday in the second-to-last event of the championships.

 



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Huskers Sign Virginia Adriano – University of Nebraska

The Nebraska volleyball program and head coach Dani Busboom Kelly announced the addition of Virginia Adriano for the 2025 season on Friday. Adriano is a 6-5 opposite hitter from Turin, Italy who will have three years of NCAA eligibility. Adriano most recently played for Bergamo in Serie A1, Italy’s top professional league. In the season […]

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The Nebraska volleyball program and head coach Dani Busboom Kelly announced the addition of Virginia Adriano for the 2025 season on Friday.

Adriano is a 6-5 opposite hitter from Turin, Italy who will have three years of NCAA eligibility.

Adriano most recently played for Bergamo in Serie A1, Italy’s top professional league. In the season finale against Megabox on March 30, she recorded 21 kills and three blocks with an ace. Adriano averaged 2.39 kills per set with a .385 hitting percentage as Bergamo finished eighth in the 14-team league. 

In 2023-24, Adriano played in Serie A2 with Volley Hermaea Olbia and totaled 395 kills with a .384 hitting percentage, along with 27 aces and 24 blocks. 

Representing the Italy U23 National Team, Adriano won a gold medal at the European Championships in 2024. She also won a U19 title with Italy at the European Championships in 2022. Adriano was part of the Italy team that finished second at the U21 World Championship in 2023. 

“Virginia is an opposite hitter with great size who has a ton of high-level international experience, and we are thrilled she wants to come overseas and play for Nebraska,” Busboom Kelly said. “Virginia is a well-balanced player in terms of her attack, block and serve. She will be a great addition to our program.” 



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