eSports History: How it all began

The early days of competitive computer games date back to 1952. At that time, computer scientist Alexander Shafto Douglas was working on his doctoral thesis on the interaction between humans and computers in Cambridge and came up with the idea of implementing the game “XOX” – better known to us as “Tic-Tac-Toe” or “Three Wins” – as a computer game. However, the human always played against the computer and could only determine who started.

The first actual multiplayer game was presented in 1958 by the then head of “Instrumentation Higinbotham” at the open day. It was called “Tennis for Two” and allowed two people to play against each other. The game was played with an early form of the joystick, which allowed players to hit the ball over the net and adjust its trajectory. Today, this title is considered by many to be the birth of eSports.