MAYBVM

12 13 OPENING LINES CHANGING FACE OF GAMING DEBUNKS LONG HELD STEREOTYPES T he gaming industry has changed at such an exponential rate over the past five years that the face of gaming has transformed before our eyes, both literally and figuratively. Once a niche hobby, explored pri- marily by teenage boys and serviced by a handful of companies, the gaming market exceeded $30 billion in 2016 and is forecast to grow at a 6% compounded annual growth rate through 2019. In 2017, more people tuned in to watch electronic sports’ (esports) League of Legends finals than the U.S. football and baseball profes- sional championships combined. In fact, Alienware co-founder, Frank Azor, predicts esports is on the path to becoming the most popular sport in the world in the next 10 years. Similarly, with PC gaming’s explosion of popularity have come many new hardware and software entrants, introducing innovation and competition as well as driving down costs, which has lured even more intrigued spectators into the gaming world. Alienware, the leading hardware man- ufacturer and member of the gaming community for more than 20 years, is a proud ambassador of PC gaming.With two lines of products to serve gamers of every budget, as well as robust communi- ty engagement