Esports fans, now you've really arrived.
It wasn't the million-dollar prize pools or the masses who were tuning in to live broadcasts.
It was Dictionary.com's decision to add "esports" to the dictionary that really made the difference.
The noun, which the website defines as "competitive tournaments of video games," was added along with 1,000 other new words on Wednesday. Other gaming terms added included permadeath, the permanent death of a defeated character, after which the player of the game cannot continue with the same character; and completionist, a player who attempts to complete every challenge and earn every achievement or trophy in a video game.
Dictionary.com is owned by IAC and sources content from the Random House Unabridged Dictionary.
It's also worth noting that Dictionary.com's entry for esports does not have a capitalized S (eSports) or a hyphen (e-sports), hopefully finally putting the grammar debate to rest.