Buy cheap Sport games for PC | Sport genre

Sports games at GameSeal

There is something about sports that engage humans since the dawn of humanity. The first mentions of sports date back to around 15,300 years ago. Of course, a lot has changed since then, but we won’t be far from the truth when we say that sport is written into our DNA. No wonder, some game developers decided to transfer the thrill of sport competition to the virtual world and created sports games. 

Today, sport is a big part of our culture, no matter the country. Even playing video games itself became a sport, an e-sport to be precise. New games about sports premiere systematically, and although they can be a bit pricey, we have some tricks to save your wallet. GameSeal is your friendly neighborhood gaming shop with the best deals around, so when you’re looking for some games, check here first! And if the current deals are not satisfactory for you, we highly encourage you to subscribe to our newsletter, so you can be first to know about incoming discounts, and maybe we can send you some exclusive promo codes? Check it out!

What are sports games?

The simple answer to this question would be “sports games are video games about sports”, but there’s more to it. Typically, the goal of these games is to simulate the practice of sports, but not always. Every so often, it’s the management aspect that is the core idea of the game (like the Football Manager series). Some titles are emphasizing humor too, exaggerating some mechanics for fun effects (like the Need for Speed series). 

Sports games draw their inspiration from real sporting activities, meaning they test the player with skills that are useful in real competition, like reaction time, accuracy, etc. Many sporting games that are based on popular disciplines provide broadcast-like features like live commentary or play-by-play replays. 

Another important thing to notice is the division between sports games in which the player controls virtual avatar(s) from the comfort of their chair and the ones where navigation is based on movement in real-time, with dedicated external controllers. Yes, you heard us right, some games about sports require physical activity. And to be honest, in our private opinion, these types of games are the best ones. Just like one of the greatest bards of our time, will.i.am, once sang: “I like to move it, move it!”.

A short history of sports games

Games about sports have their origins in arcades. Most people when hearing about arcades think about the 70s and 80s. But what if we tell you that the first sports games in arcades premiered in 1955 on machines that included both mechanical and electronic elements? That’s actually pretty amazing. Since then, sports-inspired games appeared on many various devices, like for example an oscilloscope. The first commercial sports video game “Pong” was released in 1972 by Atari, and the best part of video game history finally began. 

The big success of Pong and its tennis-like clones started a so-called ball-and-paddle era that lasted from 1973 until 1975. The following years brought the development of games about other disciplines, like Basketball in 1974, when the first human figures appeared. More games were available for home gaming consoles since PCs still weren’t a thing.

The first introduction of 3D graphics happened in the early 90s. It was a time when personal computers became more common, and game developers began making games for this platform too. Since the year 2000 games about sports entered their more serious stage when companies like Electronic Arts started working with sports organizations and acquired licenses for brands like NFL or FIFA. 

Another big stepping stone for the genre was the introduction of movement detection controls. In some form, they existed since the 90s, but this type of gameplay control was not introduced to a wider audience until the premiere of the Nintendo Wii. Sports games on Wii were a massive success that not even the Wii's successor, the Nintendo Switch, can replicate. Sports games for Nintendo Switch are still being created, so fans of sports video games have something to hope for.