Fur-Esports: A Competitive Gaming Team for Furries.
by Smash Capps
Dogpatch Press welcomes Smash Capps for his first guest post. He’s an eSports journalist who wrote about getting a warm introduction to furry at Further Confusion 2016.
At the Daily Dot’s “20 Under 20” series, see a profile of Sonic Fox, also appearing below. Their article came out with perfect timing after this one was completed and scheduled.
Fur-eSports logo
Of all the ways to promote the furry community at large, this may be one of the most unique attempts yet: Fur-eSports. This creatively named group looks to be “An eSports team for Furries, by Furries,” according to its Twitter account.
For those who do not know, the term eSports generally refers to competitive gaming. Many furry conventions hold gaming tournaments and some have even been reported on by their communities. eSports however, is something much larger than that. For games like League of Legends, grand finals matches can bring in over 14 Million viewers and fill entire stadiums to watch a match. Even on the smaller end of eSports events can be huge. The tournament Evolution 2016, one of the longest running fighting game tournaments of all time, plans to have its grand finals at the Mandalay Bay Events Center: a 12,000 seat entertainment complex that has hosted Katy Perry, UFC Fights, and even the Latin GRAMMY Awards.
Are there enough furries to support a large team for these kinds of events? 51% of U.S. households own a dedicated game console. 42% play video games at least three hours a week according to the Entertainment Software Association. It should come as no surprise that many of these people would also be among the fandom.
In fact, one of the most prominent Mortal Kombat X players is openly a furry and even wears furry attire while competing at events: