Ben Brock Johnson from Endless Thread.

Roman Mars from 99% Invisible.

Today we're bringing you the third episode from our series, Hidden Levels, all about how

the world of video games has changed the world beyond video games.

Speaking worlds, how familiar are you with the e-sports world?

Like, familiar enough to tell you a definition, but not like steeped in it in any meaningful

way.

You're not following evil geniuses or fanatic or cloud nine.

You're not following these teams.

No, I wouldn't say that I am. I don't,

I mean, I know that you're saying English words, but I have no idea what those things are. So for the uninitiated esports is basically organized competitive gaming. Think of all the fanfare

sponsorship, stadiums, tension of your favorite sports league.

But instead of dribbling a ball or swinging a racket,

esports competitors are playing multi-person video games for titles,

often in front of very large live audiences.

Oh, they go, Becker flashes in, and down goes nights once again when you need someone, when you need anyone to stand up and show just what this game's all about.

And I know this has been big for a while, but at this point, how many people beyond the stadium are watching people play games?

I will say, Roman, I was shocked by this.

The global e-sport audience is expected to exceed 600 million this year.

This is an industry worth more than a billion dollars.

Average competitor is in their 20s, and you actually age out in your 20s of being able to play because you can't click a mouse fast enough after that to compete. So I'm not going to go pro? No, Roman, I'm sorry. You can't go pro. You can't go pro. You might be able to coach. You'd be a great coach. You can't go pro.

So the spectators for e-sports are largely male and can actually even skew younger than the players themselves. So there are a lot of teenagers who watch this stuff and this demographic teenage males is very interesting to a long-standing U.S. organization who needs you.

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