Without a doubt, the growth of esports in the gaming industry has quickly escalated, with the industry expected to pull in around 1.5 billion dollars by 2020. In fact, a recent study has even suggested that pro gamers could even earn more money than pro athletes. But when gamers talk about esports, shooters like Overwatch or Fortnite usually dominate the conversation, yet it appears that Farming Simulator is throwing its hat into the ring.

Over 2017 and 2018, there were a few competitive events featuring the incredibly successful simulator franchise, but today's announcement of the Farming Simulator League is clearly taking that a step further. Starting this summer, this eSports league will span 10 tournaments across Europe, with the developer Giants Software hosting the final tournament at FarmCon in summer 2020. This decision has seen a new 3v3 competitive mode come to the simulator as well as snag several sponsors including the easily recognizable Logitech. Moreover, the league itself will also feature over $284,000 in reward money.

In part, this league grew out of a much smaller tournament at Agritechnica 2017, where the popularity of competitive Farming Simulator managed to shock the game's developer. This led Giants Software to begin making plans for large tournaments, courting sponsors, designing a more strategic mode for competition, and taking on all sorts of related challenges. Giants Software CEO Christian Ammann event went on to say, “it was quite a steep learning curve for us, as well, but I think we are really on a good path to provide something that’s a good experience for the players and also for the audience.”

This esports league will kick off over the coming summer with 10 events, with Gamescom and Paris Games Week being some of the heaviest hitting venues for the up-and-coming league. The final championship will include $114,000 in prize money, which is nearly half of all the money tied up into the event. But hopefully, this new Farming Simulator league manages to compete well with some of the other successful gaming esports franchises.

Considering the popularity of the simulator and the devotion of Giants Software to this league, it seems on track to do well among its competition. After all, the newest entry managed to sell 1 million copies in its first ten days. For those thinking of picking up this latest installment, Farming Simulator 19, check out our review here.

Farming Simulator 19 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: esports Observer