Whether you know your "split-push" from your "powerspike" or not, it's difficult to miss the ever growing popularity and influence of esports.
With hundreds of millions playing and watching worldwide, brand partnerships with the likes of Gucci, BMW and Coca Cola, and a showcase at the Commonwealth Games - it seems that 2022 has been another successful year for competitive gaming.
So what do traditional sport's noisy younger siblings have planned to keep that upward trajectory going in 2023?
For those who are still a little unsure, esports refers to a range of different video games that are played competitively by professionals across the world. Often hosted in stadiums, events are televised and draw big audiences to watch. The esports market is estimated to grow to be worth $1.9bn (£1.4bn) by 2025.
Dominic Sacco, founder of Esports News UK, argues that before continued growth and bigger audiences, the industry first has to come to terms with some fundamental changes to how much of it will be organised in future.
"At the start of 2022 a group backed by the Saudi Arabian government bought two of the biggest esports tournament operators in the world, ESL and FaceIt," he explains. "I think we'll see more of this happening and it will be a big trend in 2023 and probably beyond".
That deal was worth $1.5bn (£1.2bn) and is only the beginning with the Saudi government-backed Savvy Gaming group saying that they want to invest $38bn (£31bn) to transform the country into a global esports hub by 2030. READ MORE...
