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Electronic Sports or eSports are multiplayer video game competitions organized by professional gamers, either individually or in teams. The video game industry, which was initially restricted to the boundaries of entertainment, gained significant momentum with the rise of eSports in the 21st century. The availability of efficient streaming services allows global participation, as we see more and more players taking up gaming as their profession. While pro-gamers earn money via streaming or taking part in tournaments, it is possible for enthusiasts to bag a dime via eSports betting. There are good online casino sites that support eSports betting, but a proper streaming service is necessary to carry on with the process. You can choose any of the below-mentioned streaming services for eSports, according to your requirements.
Twitch
The American live streaming service is by far the best option out there to stream eSports like CSGO live. It started as a spin-off from a general streaming platform called Justin.tv, and now it focuses primarily on video games. Twitch saw a significant rise in its user base in 2014, and was acquired by Amazon the same year. It handles more than 15 million active users every day.
Twitch collaborated with the League of Legends World Championship to become its official broadcaster in 2012, and since then, it has kept on widening its services. The other popular games streamed via Twitch include Dota 2, Apex Legends, Valorant, Minecraft, CS:GO, and Fortnite. Being the first choice of eSports streaming for renowned influencers all around the world, Twitch’s streaming story has been nothing but a huge success.
YouTube
YouTube, owned by Google, is the most popular video-sharing platform on the internet. YouTube launched a sub-site back in 2015 to compete with Twitch in capturing the video game streaming market. Although the site does not function separately anymore, YouTube is still an important platform for eSports streaming.
Although YouTube’s live gaming space is a hub of streamers from all around the world, it struggles to partner with the top eSports tournaments. However, it covers a few of them like the world tournaments of DOTA 2, League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Discord
Discord is a new arrival in the online gaming community and is already handling 150 million active users monthly. Discord is not exactly a streaming platform that officially streams eSports tournaments; however, it has come up with online communities or servers that lets its members share files, media, messages, and calls over the platform. Now, these servers are basically chat rooms and voice channels that are accessible via links, suitable for streaming eSports within a more private and closely-knit community. Obviously, major eSports tournaments that allow public betting aren’t available on discord, but you can surely stream via Discord while wagering money on eSports among your private gaming community.
Facebook
Just like YouTube, Facebook is another such company that primarily serves as a social media but has tried to involve the online gaming community to compete with Twitch in the market. Facebook Gaming, now owned by Meta, lets its users play games, organize and participate in tournaments, and stream eSports. It has already signed agreements with gaming companies like ESL to obtain streaming rights for games like CS:GO and Dota 2. However, it struggles to provide a user-friendly, feature-packed interface and lags behind its contemporary rivals, a downside that is yet to be addressed.
Steam
Steam, owned by Valve, is the largest video game digital distribution company for PC Gaming but offers several other services like game server matchmaking, game streaming, and social networking. It is also the marketplace of gaming hardware developed by Valve. Stream supports multiple operating systems like Windows, macOS, and Linus and mobile apps for Android and iOS.
Steam holds a lot of potential in video game streaming since it focuses on user-created content support, in-game chats, and microtransactions. Valve uses Steam to host eSports tournaments, for its own games like CS:GO and Dota 2. For example, The International is one such annual Dota 2 tournament that gets streamed on Steam.
Caffeine
Caffeine is the newest arrival in the video game streaming sector and has already raised over $146 from investments. Caffeine invites renowned celebrities and influencers to stream video games, and not just professional gamers. Apart from innovative marketing strategies, Caffeine incorporates features like working without popular broadcast software like OBS and XSplit and lets the streamers use their camera more freely. It is of no wonder that they managed to bag a digital contract with Riot Games to stream their League of Legends Championship series.
The Bottomline: What Lies Ahead?
Twitch still remains untouchable when it comes to eSports owning to its large userbase of professional gamers and contracts with the companies organizing such Tournaments. While following eSports live on these streaming services, you can easily wager an amount via sites that allow sports betting on eSports.
