On November 10th, 1981, the birthplace of eSports was cemented in gaming history. Twin Galaxies, which was located on Main Street in Ottumwa, Iowa first opened it’s doors to the public. What first was seen as a way for owner Walter Day to spend most of his time around the hobby that he fell in love with, soon became an industry when Day called Williams Electronics to ask if a patron’s score on Defender was a world record. When the representative told Day that he wasn’t sure, Day offered to keep track of high scores for the gaming industry. When Williams Electronics agreed, Day then followed that by calling up other manufacturers, offering the same service. All of them agreed, and out of that the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard was formed.
What started as just another arcade soon became the epicenter of gaming world records, with gamers calling in from all over the world to submit their scores. This eventually led to a partnership with Guinness World Records, who began to post Twin Galaxies high scores in their annual book of world records. Local, regional, National and worldwide tournaments followed.
When the arcade closed in 1984, Twin Galaxies continued as a world record organization and while Walter Day has handed the reigns to other owners, the legacy continues to live on in the form of a website where players can continue to submit their high scores. Gamers continue to do so from all over the world, and there’s no signs of that slowing down.
Without Walter Day and Twin Galaxies, eSports as we know it would not be here. Twin Galaxies was the first organization to offer scorekeeping and to facilitate competitions where gamers from all over the world could compete for world titles. It’s prominence has been felt since the 80’s, and will continue to be felt as long as competitive gaming exists.
Source: The Historical Marker Database
