It should be the return of the really big gaming show - with epic explosions on the huge video wall, deafening noise from the speakers, fireworks, confetti rain and frenetically partying fans in the arena.

At the beginning of October the best “Dota2” teams meet at “The International 10” (TI10) in Bucharest's national stadium, which can hold more than 55,000 spectators, and let their avatars compete against each other in a virtual world full of warriors, monsters and sorceresses.

The news that is to be carried out into the world from Romania's capital is already certain: "e-sports" - professional and competitive gaming on computers or consoles - is back.

And bigger and more spectacular than ever before.

Sebastian Reuter

Editor on duty.

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Almost exactly 40 million dollars (34 million euros) in prize money will be distributed to the 18 participating teams - about as much as the tennis professionals were able to collect at the French Open in Paris this year. There has never been more money in a computer game tournament. The members of the winning team alone each receive a bonus of more than three million dollars at the TI10 and can make themselves rich young men with good tactics, teamwork and thousands of mouse clicks. If they haven't already been: The Dane Johan “n0tail” Sundstein has earned almost seven million dollars just with his victories in “Dota2” tournaments. The Berlin Kuro "KuroKy" Takhasomi is already a multiple gaming millionaire at the age of 28 thanks to prize money, high-value contracts and lucrative advertising deals.And the American Kyle Giersdorf won three million dollars in one fell swoop in 2019 with his victory at the "Fortnite World Cup" - at the age of just 16.

The enthusiasm is unbroken

Sundstein, Takhasomi and Co. are adored all over the world by hundreds of thousands of fans who are constantly sitting in front of their computers and consoles, navigating their virtual self through forests and theaters of war or over racetracks and football fields and dreaming of making (a lot) of money with gaming to be able to earn.

In Germany alone, more than seventy percent of people under the age of 24 state that they play video games “almost every day”, and there are more and more clubs that support community gaming and organize tournaments at local and regional level.

For fans and sponsors it has long been clear: so-called "e-sport" is booming and can no longer be stopped - despite constant criticism, especially from traditional sports associations. The Corona crisis has not changed much about that. It is true that the gaming industry also had to forego the really big live events in the past year and a half and limit itself to streaming much more simply designed tournaments on the Internet. But the enthusiasm is unbroken and continues to spread. When no more stadiums were open during the pandemic and every sports hall was closed to spectators, gaming platforms like “Twitch” recorded more views from players and spectators than ever. Whether in the strategy games "League of Legends" or "Dota2",the first-person shooter “Counter Strike” or sports simulations such as “Fifa” and “F1”: “E-Sport” tournaments ensured unprecedented streaming ratings, even getting traditional TV channels like Sky or Sport1 to broadcast live - and should soon fill the arenas in Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin again in Germany.