Video games are competitive by nature and have been played competitively since the beginning. The first major tournament was held in 1980 and attracted more than 10,000 players. Companies like Nintendo were famous for their World Video Game Championships in the 1990s, encouraging video game lovers to come to the USA in hopes to become the best in the world. Release of first-person shooter Doom in 1993 began the era of multi-player death match games that continues to this date.

Today electronic sports involve competitive play of various video game genres, including fighting games, real-time strategy games, dancing games, sports games and first-person shooters. E-sports events attract thousands of players and top athletes enjoy their rightfully earned popularity. The development of internet technologies allows millions of players to experience the excitement of electronic sports on their gaming devices.

There are a great selection of Mind Sports that can also be played competitively and they have also been included in some of our previous Festival playing schedules. These include Mah-Jongg, Bridge, Backgammon, Draughts and Risk.