Over the past week, there have been a number of fierce debates surrounding eSports and its credibility as an authentic “sport”. The idea of pursuing a career and earning a living from playing video games is one that is currently unfathomable to certain members of the public, specifically those of older generations. However, to disregard competitive gaming as a traditional sport and simply view it as an entertaining pastime is incredibly naïve, especially when one of the largest annual sporting events, The X Games, awards competitive gamers with the recognition they deserve.
Understandably, from the perspective of many people, the key to whether or not competitive gamers should be regarded as official athletes can be found within the definition of the word ‘sport’ itself. The Oxford English Dictionary states that a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.”
Admittedly, within the realm of eSports, the level of physical exertion amongst competitors is minimal, potentially voiding the phenomenon as a legitimate sport. However, much like darts, regardless of physical requirements, the activity still demands a wealth of skill and mental concentration, while boasting a competitive atmosphere and a loyal following. Interestingly enough, eSports can also draw some further comparisons from darts, with the common stereotype of both respective professionals being overweight, unsocial and lethargic individuals. Yet, according to some sports psychologists, “cyber athletes” do display incredible mental endurance and their reaction times are at a level equal to professional sportsmen and women.
Contrary to popular belief, games such as League of Legends, Starcraft and Hearthstone are both mentally demanding and astonishingly stressful, with players having to execute split-second decisions, which may define the difference between winning and losing. As well as this, several competitive gamers spend countless hours in front of a screen, perfecting their craft, as they broadcast their tournaments and training sessions to a live audience. This continuous amount of pressure can often take its toll on the mind and body of competitive gamers, therefore many organisations have opted to appoint professional nutritionists to aid their client’s lifestyle, in order to ensure they are at the peak of their career.
Last year, we even witnessed professional Call of Duty team, OpTic Gaming, attend a high performance boot camp hosted by Red Bull at their eSports studio in California. During their time together, the OpTic Gaming roster were analysed by sports psychologists, completed several vigorous fitness regimes and participated in a number of team building exercises.
As well as performing, training and living like professional athletes, in many cases within the eSports community, the highest calibre of players can also earn a substantial income from doing what they enjoy. Team Dignitas owner, Michael “ODEE” O’Dell, states that some players can earn up to $200,000+ per year through tournament winnings, streaming and lucrative sponsorship deals.
When debating whether it is plausible for one to earn a career from professional gaming, Call of Duty veteran, Matt “Nadeshot” Haag, provides a very strong and appealing case. Haag isn’t your average 22 year old, he drives a BMW M3, has over 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube, attracts thousands of viewers to his livestreams on a daily basis and boasts a lucrative sponsorship deal with iconic energy drink company, Red Bull. All this put together and “Nadeshot” earns over $1 million a year!
eSports Viewership
As the largest entertainment industry in the world, video games don’t simply attract a significant amount of players, they also possess an incredibly loyal following, who are willing to watch the most popular and talented individuals through platforms such as Twitch and MLG.tv.
In 2013, the League of Legends World Championship amassed a whopping 32 million viewers (with a concurrent peak of 8.5 million), a total larger than the NBA finals and the MLB World Series final, two of the most iconic sporting events. As well as this, eSports enthusiasts are also willing travel across the world to support their favourite teams live, with last year’s LoL World Championship filling a 40,000 seated football stadium, while our very own G3 was attended by over 4,000 fans and watched by a further 8 million people in 25 countries.
With viewing figures that are higher than some soap operas on TV, eSports is a market that currently holds huge investment potential, with top brands such as Coca-Cola, American Express and Red Bull already sponsoring organisations, players and tournaments.
Will it ever be considered as a sport?
In my opinion, I view eSports as the sport of a modern generation. Within our era, we have grown up with YouTube celebrities and competitive gaming as the norm, while older generations are more comfortable around the typical characteristics of standard television and entertainment.
eSports will continue to grow at a rate previously unheard of in other sports industries, therefore I have no doubt that it will be classed as an authentic sport in the near future. However, for the time being, I do believe eSports enthusiasts and community members should reframe themselves from pursuing the vindication from other outlets. In time, they will grow to understand us, but at the moment we are still technically an anomaly, and that is okay. After all, we are first people to pioneer this new phenomenon.
Earlier in the week, Director and Co-Founder of Gfinity, Neville Upton, participated in a discussion on the BBC surrounding the growth of eSports and whether gaming could be considered as a true sport. Be sure to check out the documentary below.