The rise of eSports is one of the biggest game changers to happen to the gaming industry next to what mobile has done to casual gaming industry. The rise of eSports has made hardcore gaming become more mainstream with many gamers working hard to play games professionally as a career.
Free to Play is a documentary following three professional DOTA 2 players from around the world on their journey to win the International DOTA 2. You do not need to know anything about DOTA 2 or even DOTA to understand this movie. This is much more about the individual players who are trying to make a career in an industry very much in it’s infancy stage.
That is what makes this movie so inspiring. You don't have to know anything about games to understand the passions these players have. If you don't know anything about competitive gaming then you will understand the skeptical environment loves ones and even the players themselves face on a regular basis.
Yet even with all of that they still are willing to not only give it their all, but risk so much just to have a chance to succeed in competitive gaming. Competitive gaming is much like college sports, but without the college support. You have to spend much of your young prime years to be at an excellent level while giving up time that could be spent furthering your education or career.
Being a professional competitive gamer is not by any means an easy endeavour. You can imagine how hard it is to explain to your family why you are so passionate about just a computer game. That is what most of our families still think about gaming even when it has become so big. They just grew up in different times when technology didn’t make this possible.
Even today you will hear about all the hardship professional players have when they are not the champions. Since eSports is still trying to build a strong foundation there are many cases of abuse and hardship for the professional players in the industry.
Though eSports is thriving to a level it has never seen before. Already strong in Asia thanks to StarCraft and the first DOTA, competitive gaming is now cementing itself as a global competitive phenomenon all around the world. Tournaments are being held in places all over the world with games like DOTA 2, League of Legends, and StarCraft II hosting global tournaments for the best players all around the world for millions of fans to watch.
The eSports scene has the technology to reach a bigger global audience than physical sports. Physical sports has been a part of society since the dawn of civilization and it will continue to be an important part of our world. The technological advantages of eSports though must not be overlooked.