PBS Documentary Explores The World Of Competitive Video Gaming

As we countdown to tonight's Super Bowl — one of the world's largest sporting events — it's only fitting that PBS explores the world of competitive gaming and e-sports. As a part of PBS's Off Book web series, the company went behind the scenes of the competitive video gaming world to see what makes it tick, and it's a growing industry that doesn't seem to be slowing down.

In "The Rise of Competitive Gaming and E-Sports," the 8-minute mini documentary explores the four main genres that encapsulates competitive gaming: real-time strategy, multiplayer online battle arena, first-person shooters, and fighting games. The video provides a glimpse into what the world of competition-based gaming is like, and not only are there people competing for prizes, but there are also loyal fans that watch these gamers compete for the ultimate prize.

The documentary goes to show that people can, in fact, look to video games as a serious thing, and tons of people make money this way, most notably an infamous gamer by the name of Johnathen Wendel, or better known as Fatal1ty, who is a full-time professional gamer and has multiple lines of PC gaming components with his name on them.

This PBS video comes just days after Microsoft and Activision announced that they would be hosting the Call of Duty Championship, in which 32 teams of four players would compete against one another with a $1 million purse for the top five teams, proving that there is some sweet cash to be taken from these events, as well as the greatest prize of all: bragging rights.