As the improvement and heavy interest on the video game market increases, our society is becoming further engaged in video gaming and video game streaming. Essentially spawning the need for major streaming sites like Twitch our devout focus on the improvement and development of video games have offered endless possibilities from virtual reality gaming to the creation of a whole new sport archetype. Thus creating the exciting and ever entertaining world of eSports.
As technology improves in our 21st century lifestyle, we as a society are no longer bound by the physical necessity needed for sports such as soccer, basketball, and football. Granted these newly found eSports do not participate in an electronic form of the aforementioned traditional sports, eSports continues to show its prominence as more and more people flock to the phenomenon that is the eSports world. With tens of thousands of people flocking to Twitch to watch as eSport teams battle it out in their favorite gaming titles from Dota 2 to League of Legends. In addition to the continuous support of the viewers that watch these eSports, there has recently been a documentary film titled All Work All Play that goes into the creation of this up and coming sport documenting season 9 of the Intel extreme masters tournament.
For those that are about to jump on about how eSports are not “real” sports, keep in mind that the validity of eSports matches the same criteria set for the more traditional sports like football and baseball. In July of 2013 game 7 of the NBA finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs were out watched by roughly 20% more viewers in comparison to the world finals of League of Legends. Thus helping prove the argument that eSport teams are just as popular and competitive as the traditional sports teams such as the New York Giants and Miami Heat. However the creation and continuation of such teams differ vastly as the traditional sports teams are concrete and unchanging whereas in the world of eSports the teams can constantly fluctuate, and in some extreme case become disbanded. That is the unfortunate fate that Samsung White had suffered.
What is Samsung White?
So how did the newly acquired Samsung team perform in this World Championship. Well after being placed in group B alongside other well known eSports teams Fnatic, Gambit Gaming, Team Vulcun, and Mineski, MVP Ozone had a record of 5-3. Tied at 1-1 Ozone had to move to a tiebreaker match where they lost thus resulting in elimination from the tournament as Fnatic and Gambit moved to the quarterfinals. A crushing and devastating performance for the former OLYMPUS champions.
Samsung White Poor Performance
Moving into the 2014 Season World Championship, Samsung White and sister team Samsung Blue were the two favorites to win the whole tournament. While Samsung White went undefeated in their group, Samsung Blue made it to the the semifinals where they would be defeated 3-0 by Samsung White. Samsung White were crowned as the World Champions and won the prize money which was a whopping $1,000,000.
Samsung White in 2018 – Disbanding & Members Retiring
Despite the heartbroken end of Samsung White, the team still had displayed their level of skill and prowess winning both a World championship and the title of OLYMPUS Champions Spring 2013 champion. While the team was in fact disbanded resulting in no team being owned by Samsung, this demonstrates a trend that is all the more relevant the further we get into the 21st century. Samsung has set a precedent causing other large big name corporations like Red Bull and Coca Cola to sponsor various eSports teams and events. Through these sponsorships, these big name corporations will then rigorously advertise their respective teams thus bringing more awareness to the growing world of eSports while bringing in more fans.