Which year did the first video game tournament take place?

The earliest known video game competition took place on 19 October 1972 at Stanford University for the game Spacewar. Stanford students were invited to an "Intergalactic spacewar olympics" whose grand prize was a year's subscription for 'Rolling Stone'. The prize may have been underwhelming, but the video game tournament was born.

The Space Invaders Championship held by Atari in 1980 was the earliest large scale video game competition, attracting more than 10,000 participants across the United States, establishing competitive gaming as a mainstream hobby. Considered one of the most iconic games in history, Space Invaders elevated gaming from a novelty to an international industry.