The best games for many players are those which have longest stood the test of time. The modern games of today might have the graphics, they might have the scale, but they in no way match the appeal which classic DOS games have held for us since the mid-80s.
From humble garage LAN parties, these early games and their tournaments grew what was once a small collective into an international force. Today, eSports is not just about larger audiences and bigger winnings, it also includes huge supporting new media on the internet and television, gambling and eSports odds, sponsorships, and much, much more.
So how are the early games which set these standards running today?
The answer is, unfortunately, not good. Quake 3 no longer operates on any main stage. Even StarCraft, formerly the biggest eSports game in the world, officially ended its pro league back in 2016.
The thing is, this doesn’t necessarily need to be the case. Modern eSports giants like CSGO have changed remarkably little over the years, save for their infrastructure. So, if similar developments were to take place around older games, which might be updated to be fantastic spectator eSports?
Here’s just a small selection of what could be possible.
Doom
Doom has stood the test of time like few others, enjoying an enormous and active community to this day. Both in terms of speedrunners and modders, Doom continues to evolve.
Given the breadth of these mods and the skill levels that players have achieved, it would be great to see Doom as a permanent fixture in eSports. Throw a random mod on for each round, and cycle through the thousands of available wads. It might be carnage, but it would also be guaranteed to still have appeal.
Scorched Earth
Scorched Earth has its simplicity only matched by its hype. Take turns controlling stationary turrets, adjusting various weapons against the wind, and do your best to hit the enemy before they hit you.
As such a simple game, this could easily do with a few changes to up the scale, while still maintaining the spirit of the original. In this case, consider Scorched Earth Battle Royale; having turns might take days, so instead have games where shots are based on a timer.
The simplicity here would mean thousands of players could fight at once over the internet and in person. It wouldn’t be serious, of course, but as a fun mainstay side-activity during other eSports events, it would definitely be a winner.
Dungeon Keeper
It’s been a long time since there's been a new Dungeon Keeper game, not counting that mobile abomination. An update of this classic could involve, again, a focus on massively multiplayer gameplay.
Over time, have players upgrade their defenses, and send out increasingly aggressive waves of monsters to raid their enemies dungeons. This would build into incredibly frantic final acts, where pacts and betrayals could add an entirely new element to this DOS favorite.
Progress is not Infinite
Increasingly, gaming is reaching an age where the most popular games aren't the newest flavor of the month. The biggest games in eSports are those which have been around for years. LoL is a decade old at this point, and Counter-Strike stays close to its nearly two-decade-old roots.
Knowing this, many players want to see a resurgence of older classics. They don't have to be the biggest or have the most prize-money on the line, they just have to have a little more time in the sun.
So which of these old games would you like see adopt an eSports presence?
