You may have heard claims that eSports is growing. However, unless your au fait with the scene – checking the number of new events spawning each year, visitor and viewer numbers – it would be easy to miss the growth. Well, we’ve a new tangible marker to see the waves it’s making around the globe. The International, Valve’s massive Dota 2 competition, will be broadcast live on Swedish TV.
TV6 has taken on the duties, providing extensive coverage of the event on its network. More than simply broadcasting when it takes place next month, the network has compiled articles which introduce its viewers to Dota 2’s rules, how The International works, and a slew of biographies of the Swedish players taking part in the contest. You can check it all out here. (If your Swedish is as good as mine then you may want to use Google Translate.)
It’s exceptionally cool to see a national channel give airtime to a video game. Hopefully it will spark a number of other countries and channels to follows suit for future events. It’s been too long since games have graced British screens.
Though, that said, is the lack of coverage in the UK a good marker for the world? Do other countries give games more sway?