Good Luck Have Fun

The Rise of eSports

By: Roland Li

Narrated by: Alexander Cendese

Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

A Close-Up Look at the Global Phenomenon of Competitive Video Gaming

Esports is one of the fastest growing - and most cutthroat - industries in the world. A confluence of technology, culture, and determination has made this possible. Players around the world compete for millions of dollars in prize money, and companies like Amazon, Coca-Cola, and Intel have invested billions. Esports events have sold out Los Angeles' Staples Center, Seoul's World Cup Stadium, and Seattle's KeyArena. Hundreds of people have dedicated their lives to gaming, sacrificing their education, their relationships, and even their bodies to compete, committing themselves with the same fervor of any professional athlete.

In Good Luck Have Fun, author Roland Li talks to some of the biggest names in the business and explores the players, companies, and games that have made it to the new major leagues. Follow Alexander Garfield as he builds Evil Geniuses, a modest gaming group in his college dorm, into a global, multimillion-dollar eSports empire. Learn how Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill made League of Legends the world's most successful eSports league and most popular PC game, on track to make over $1 billion a year. See how Twitch pivoted from a video streaming novelty into a $1 billion start-up on the back of professional gamers. And dive into eSports' dark side: drug abuse, labor troubles, and for each success story hundreds of people who failed to make it big. These are the stories of the rise of an industry and culture that challenge what we know about sports, games, and competition.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2016 Roland Li (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Great insight into the world of esport

I really liked this book. It gives a good idea of how the esport scene looks and evolved. I don't play any of the games mentioned in the book, but I still was able to follow everything that was described. It was fun.

good book

For someone who has played e-sports,vor for those that don't, 5his is a decent look into the business, history, and potential of video games.

Entertaining and very informative!

A great, informative, enjoyable listen!

I love that it covered everything from the journey of up-and-coming gamers and their persistence before the industry was big, and that it was really focused on the gamers’ perspective. The book addresses gender equality, women in gaming, racism, discrimination, match fixing, the business side of companies like Twitch developing (one of my favourite chapters, which reminded me of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier —an incredible book relevant to this one), the consequences of online audience backlash, and workers rights in the gaming industry. Lots of fun quotes and varied insights!

I don’t play, but watch a ton of documentaries and audiobooks about the esports industry and this one has a lot to offer to the canon 👍🏾 10/10 recommend, and loved that it came free with audible plus!

Fantastic!

If you are a fan of E-Sports in any way you can't pass this up!

Pronunciation errors are frequent

Pronunciation errors are frequent and hard to ignore. As an avid fan of esports I thought this book provided accurate insight into the industry.

Pronunciation

Narrator got multiple names wrong throughout. Needed more direction. Not the readers fault, but the teams.

Fantastic

Very informative about the early stages of how eSports became what it is now. I loved it

Fascinating and exciting!

Puts a dramatic spin on esports, and makes the stories come alive! An Informative and insightful look into competitive gaming. 10/10