The Esports industry has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry, becoming one of the most lucrative strands of the video game community over the last five years or so. With video games now worth more than the likes of music and film put together, there has never been more opportunities to get involved and begin making money from your favourite titles.
The vast majority of the Esports industry is dominated by PC exclusive titles such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and Dota 2, with these three titles in particular standing head and shoulders above all others in terms of total prize earnings and history. However, the industry has increasingly seen more and more games stepping into the industry with variants available on home consoles like the Nintendo Switch, Sony’s Playstation and Microsoft’s Xbox.
Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch, Epic Games’ Fortnite and Psyonix’s Rocket League are all riding the wave of Esports’ growth over the past five years or so, allowing Xbox fans to join in and start earning money from these titles on their favourite console.
Here’s everything you need to know about the rise of Xbox gaming within Esports, and everything you need to know about betting on the top matches around the world.
A Competitive Culture
By and large, the Esports industry is dominated by a demographic of young adults that have grown up with home consoles being commonplace and the norm for casual gaming. The idea of these gamers potentially finding a way of living out their dreams and making money from their favourite titles is therefore a hugely exciting prospect for them.
Out of all the home consoles, Xbox has arguably cultivated the biggest reputation for high adrenaline and competitive cultures over the years. With the likes of Halo and Call of Duty during the heyday of the Xbox 360, it was clear that console gaming could nurture a competitive community that could rival the passions exhibited online with rival PC titles.
And, even back then, forms of wagering similar to the types of Esports betting so prevalent at a specialist site such as Unikrn.com were more than common amongst most Xbox gamers. Money matches and wagers amongst both friends and strangers in the server were, and still are, common amongst gamers with everything from heroes, in-game customisable features such as akins all the way to cash being put on the line.
And it is this foundation, coupled naturally with features plucked from real world sports and online gambling, that has led to betting on Xbox Esports matches becoming increasingly popular with the community.
Types Of Betting
There are a number of ways of betting on competitive Xbox matches, especially within the Esports world. An Esports betting site such as Unikrn will often offer outrights and exotic markets on an upcoming series, where players can bet on everything ranging from a match outcome, highest performing player, total in-game scores such as frags, points, goals etc.
Live in play odds and betting has also become increasingly popular for Xbox games as the Esports scene has flourished. Online streaming platforms such as Twitch or YouTube often have all the action on show live for fans to follow, allowing for enthusiasts to get ahead of the bookies by identifying trends, patterns and reading the game they very second they unfold.
The technological advancements around Esports and the growth of the industry has also led to new forms of wagering that represent huge opportunities for Xbox fans around the world. A site such as Unikrn now has a unique Blockchain powered platform named UMode, a unique skill gaming game mode that allows users to place bets on their own performances against a house-provided challenge. These challenges can range from something as simple as ‘Win your next online competitive game’, to more game-specific quests such as ‘Get ‘x’ amount of frags’ in Fortnite or ‘Score the most goals in Rocket League’.
Not only does this unique form of betting allow gamers to live out their wildest dream of making money from their favourite titles on the Xbox, but it also represents a fairer and safer experience with its player vs. house format, eliminating the risk of hustlers, smurfs or sharks that could previously sink the types of informal money matches referenced earlier.