Prior to 2017, avid watchers of anime were keen for somebody; anybody to create an anime that was based upon esports. Reddit comment boards were full of users asking the question. Fortunately, those questions were answered and earlier this year, the first season of an anime named Kings Avatar aired.

The eSports Anime: Kings Avatar

Kings Avatar

Based upon the novel of the same name, Kings Landing revolves around the life of an esports player named Xiu Ye who specializes in multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games. At first the protagonist begins as a member of a successful esports team, Xiu Ye is one of the best ‘Glory’ players in the world. However, due to a number of reasons, he finds himself kicked from the team and left in utter despair. After deciding to leave the professional scene, he finds work in an internet café which is where his passion for ‘Glory’ is re-kindled. The former champion, who possesses ten years of gaming experience, once again throws himself back into the game with the hopes of once again returning to the top in a blaze of ‘Glory’.

The Popularity of eSports

There is a reason why so many anime fans have been begging for an anime that revolves around esports. Esports have become a wildly successful entertainment sport. Arenas hosting esports events are sold out around the world, they are the epitome of a modern day sport. Esports are a 21st century sport. The esports industry is predicted to be worth over $1 billion and have a viewership of 385 million by 2020 – the industry is growing, fast. The best esports athletes have already become millionaires solely from their short esports careers whilst the largest esports tournament, Dota 2s ‘The Interntional’ has a crowd funded prize pool of over $20 million for the upcoming 2017 finals. The prize pool is funded by users of the game Dota 2 who buy in-game items for real money, a percentage of this money is then sent straight to the tournaments prize pool. Last year, the winning team ‘Wings Gaming’ from China took home over $9 million. The viewership matches the huge prize pools of major esports tournaments. Gambling on esports has also helped to increase tournament prize money. Esports audiences are now able to bet on the outcome of esports tournaments and matches much like they would a football match.

Earlier this year, the Intel Extreme Masters World Championships in Poland raked in a larger live audience than the Superbowl – 170,000 people attended the esports event compared with around 70,000 at last year’s Super Bowl. However, the most interesting aspect regarding this tournament was the unique online viewers. The Intel Extreme Masters World Championships reached more than 46 million unique online viewers. In comparison, Trumps inauguration TV audience was 30.6 million.

There are esports fans all around the world but the Asian market reserves a special place in its heart for esports. Esports and video gaming in certain parts of Asia – mainly South Korea and China – are considered social events and are one of the countries populations favourite pastimes. Over half of the whole esports market can be found in Asia – the birthplace of the anime industry. It is no wonder fans wanted the worlds of esports and anime to come together.

The series itself is 12 episodes long with each episode lasting around 25 minutes each. You can find out more information on the show by clicking this link.