For the past few years, e-sports (competitive computer games) have become increasingly more popular, even though turnover generated from e-sports still take up only a small portion of the total turnover in the gaming industry. Back in the days, videogames targeted younger people, whereas nowadays adults are just as big of a target audience. Videogames have been played for many decades, but there has been a shift in how people think of competitively playing games. Some people actively lobby for e-sports to become an official sport. In the Netherlands, lobbyists have been trying to make sure e-sports is officially recognized as a real sport. If they succeed to do so, e-sports can enjoy benefits that top athletes also have (Heisen, 2022). Many countries have already recognized e-sports as an official sport (ESports, 2022)
However, there seems to be some controversy around this topic. It seems that there are two camps – the ones in favour of e-sports, and the ones against e-sports. The latter camp justifies their viewpoint by arguing that e-sports are not sports because direct physicality lacks, whole-body skills are not employed, and various other reasons that imply that computer games are not physically enough (Parry, 2019). On the contrary, the pro-esports camp argues that e-sport athletes must have a good stamina, a balance diet, and most of them even have a sports coach to track their physical performance (Heisen, 2022).
So, let’s go back to if e-sports athletes deserve to be recognized as top athletes. Cause if we do say these e-sports athletes are top athletes, will they be exempted from regular gym classes in high school (like top athletes are now in some high school), simply to play videogames? Are we making e-sports part of the Olympic sports too? In my opinion, I understand that top athletes in e-sports are on strict diets and must be fit to play video games for long, consecutive hours. If they are competing in big tournaments and making a professional career out of it, I would understand they enjoy similar benefits to top athletes. However, I am not of the opinion that e-sports should become part of the Olympic games – simply because I think it is more a mind sports, rather than a physical sports. But who knows, maybe I am being too old fashioned. The future should prove which camp is right – pro-esports, or the more conservative camp…
ESports. (2022). Is esports a sport? Countries where esports is considered a sport. Retrieved from Esports News: https://www.esports.net/wiki/guides/is-esports-a-sport/
Heisen, E. (2022, October 11). E-sports worden steeds populairder in Nederland, maar andere lopen voor. Retrieved from Nu: https://www.nu.nl/tech/6229039/e-sports-worden-steeds-populairder-in-nederland-maar-andere-landen-lopen-voor.html
Parry, J. (2019). E-sports are not sports. Ethics and Philosophy 13(1), 3-18.
I suspect that your prediction of the future of E-Sports is correct. There is no display of physical strength (although reaction times can matter a lot!) so it’s unlikely to be seen on the Olympics. In my opinion it is therefore quite comparable to chess. This is also an activity that does not require much physical activity but is something that is extremely hard to master. Given the hours it requires to get good at the two and clearly being able to distinguish good from bad plays makes it likely that E-Sports will end up in a similar situation to chess.
What differentiates the two is that e-sport games are created by developers that hold all the rights to decide who can broadcast the games and are even able to change the rules. I suspect that this is very much a double-edged sword. Developers have an incentive to encourage the e-sport as a form of advertisement but in the end it is the normal gamers that generate the most revenue for developers, so they will always have a tension between catering to the casual player or making changes in favor of the e-sport.
Interesting post, I think it presents both sides of the debate in an objective, unbiased way, not being influenced by your personal opinion. In my opinion, there some major differences between the physical aspect of e-sports and the Olympic sports. However, professional players should be recognized as professional athletes and enjoy the benefits and treatment that comes with it. In countries such as South Korea, professional players can earn a lot of many from sponsorships and advertisements while in the more conservative countries, they do not enjoy many such opportunities. I agree with you that e-sports should not be part of the Olympics and I think that one fact that would make it very difficult for this to change is the large amount of video games with professional players. Each game should have its on competition, making the schedule too crowded, even if only the more popular ones are chosen. Moreover, it would be hard to justify which games should be included and which should not.