E-sports are booming – the industry is estimated to be worth over $612 million – and as the stigma surrounding video games subsides, West Ham United is getting in on the action. The football club has become the first in the UK to sign an e-sports player to represent it at FIFA tournaments.

Sports games are the third most popular genre of video game in the US. But while their social merits are obvious, for solo players they often lack the storytelling of action games and shooters. With help from film director Spike Lee, could basketball gameNBA 2K16buck the trend?

The media trope of the PC gamer – that gawky, geeky kid that’s hunched over his desktop computer while he wolfs down snacks and kills boars onWorld of Warcraft– may be a relic of the past. New research shows gaming among Gen Z – much like everything else – is going mobile.

Not long ago, it was inconceivable that video games would be anything more than a niche pastime, let alone a path to a lucrative career. Yet e-sports now attract millions of fans and major brand sponsorships. How did they come to rival to traditional sports? And can they achieve mainstream success?