Why ESports Should Be Considered a Real Sport

League of Legends Championship 2015 Photo Courtesy of Riot Games

There will be a series of articles focus on the growing phenomenon of eSports. The series is to help people (non-gamers/gamers) to get a better understanding of eSports and why it should be considered a real sport. In this particular part will discuss about the progressing of eSports.

What is eSports? ESports is a more upscale version of the multiplayer competitive play over video games. It also can go by a number of names: competitive gaming,  cyber sports, electronic sports, and professional gaming. There are also different levels which consist of amateur, semi-professional, and professional gaming. There are leagues as well from Major League Gaming  (MLG)in the U.S. to Cyberathelete Professional League (CPL) popular in Asia and European Gaming League in Europe (EGL).

Though there is some division in the gaming community, the community is starting to consider Electronic sports (Esports) a competitive sport because it has all the following qualifications:

Sponsorship: ESports are being sponsored like any other “traditional” sports. The amount people getting into professional gaming is on the rise, leading to them creating teams. These teams are attracting companies (ex: Samsung) that are willing to sponsor them for advertisement purposes. Though the amount of money isn’t as gigantic as other sports, sponsorship is still profitable to both sides.

Samsung’s Sponsored Teams for League of Legends, Photo Courtesy of esport-betting.pro

As for individual cyber athletes, especially former cyberathlete Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel. 60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft interviews Fatal1ty and others on the world of competitive gaming and the amounts sponsorship it’s attracting to themselves as seen in the video. The video demonstrates how people playing games as a leisure activity to  people who are able to fulfill their life’s goal by training or being the best in the world.

Training and Skills: The amount of  hours put into training sessions to get qualified is rigorous. In particular, games like Starcraft II, South Korean players have training camps and play ten plus hours a day. To qualify for Esports team tournaments and have sponsors look at them, the teams must have an extensive hours of training. They practice together to learn their strengths and weaknesses as a group and individually. Even finding out what games they play to a near professional extent helps where teammates are skilled in certain areas needed. There is also a coach who helps the team by instructing, supervising, and attains sponsors for them to purchase first-rate equipment that benefits the teams’ ability to play.

Playbox eSports Center in Malaysia, where teams can practice & consider types of strategies. Photo Courtesy of IGN

Douglas Heaven, a writer for New Scientist interviews one of the Gfinity event organizer Martin Wyatt.

Pro video gamers are no less dedicated than mainstream athletes, says Wyatt. To become the best golfer in the world you have to spend hour upon hour on the driving range. “These guys do exactly the same,” he says. “There’s no difference in skill level between these guys and the very best sportspeople in the world.”

Even injuries can happen to the cyberathletes, especially if it’s dealing with their hands. Injuries can be career ending as a professional sports player drastically end up injured physically and/or mentally. The majority of eSports consist of having swift ability to react in matter of seconds, even a minute is considered to be too slow in many of the games. Recently, Engadget reported the very popular League of Legends player and Captain of Cloud9 Hai Lam has decided to retire due to consistent wrist injury. In the video below by Gamespot he discusses his decision and what it will mean for him and his fans.

A frequent debate against eSports is the lack of required physical activity. There are plenty of traditional sports that do not require an eminence physical activity such as Chess and Poker.  A sport consist of an individual or team competition through leagues, the formula that’s always followed is where the best team ends up the victor over the course of the event.

In the next part on eSports will give a overview of it’s very beginning.