NEW ORLEANS (AP) – It was a tense moment in the opening rounds of Major League Gaming’s World Finals. OpTic Gaming, arguably the best Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare team in the world, was losing to a relatively unknown European team.
“You still have the European team in the lead but OpTic is trying to come back. This is actually really tense. But this is what makes this event so good,” said Ben Bowe, a broadcaster who does commentary for such events, the same way Tony Dungy analyzes football for NBC.
Bowe watched intently in the darkened New Orleans convention center as the four-man teams blasted away at each other on their game consoles, headphones covering their ears, until OpTic managed to pull out the win.
Bowe is one of thousands of people converging this weekend on New Orleans for Major League Gaming’s World Finals to watch players from around the world compete in games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Dota 2. Major League Gaming, founded in 2002, is one of the biggest operators in the growing e-sports (electronic sports) market that involves both online events and live tournaments like this weekend’s.
The event has many of the trappings of a major sporting event from broadcasters like Bowe who provide running commentary on tactics and strategies used by the players, areas backstage where players can warm up their hands before matches, and large screens that show images of the players for the audience.