Let the Games Begin: Why Not?
A sweaty, overweight, anti-social twenty-something living in his mother’s basement,suffering from unnaturally large amounts of acne and a lack of motivation to accomplish things in life. That is the image that comes into mind when most people hear the words, “professional gamer.” While that may not be entirely false, such a stereotype is quite inapplicable to the vast majority of today’s pro gamers.
Many modern day professional gamers often try to stay healthy physically and mentally. They are sponsored by companies worldwide, sign contracts with teams, earn six figures annually, and travel worldwide to compete in tournaments that sell out entire stadiums. They are essentially professional players for their sport, training for hours everyday, competing during seasons, training during the off-season, reviewing footage of past matches, and devising strategies. With the rise in popularity, however, of eSports and the international expansion of the gaming community, an inevitable spark has ignited a debate — are pro gamers athletes, and is their eSport an actual sport?
The straightforward answer, based on traditional values, seems to be a resounding NO. Upon closer inspection (and some digging), however, the answer may not be so simple nor so resounding.
Jaevin “KermitheFrog” Lee (picture below)- an aspiring yet amateur gamer and eSports club president at Korea International School seems to think that gamers are being underrated by the traditional values of the older generation.
“It’s because old people can’t accept new culture,” said Lee. “They just want to stick to the old definition of sports, because they never had it [eSports] when they were young.
“They consider chess a sport but not video games just because they don’t play it themselves- so whenever it is put in a positive light in the media, they just hammer it down.”
It seems that Lee’s thinking of the older generation being part of the problem seems to be true- to some extent. According to the research firm SuperData, 46 percent of the eSports viewership in the United States comes from Millennials (18–24). That’s more than everyone age 25 and up combined. It seems more than likely that the source of the discord originates in the older generation that doesn’t have the same familiarity with games, and therefore doesn’t like what they don’t understand.
While some may say Lee’s thinking is influenced by his passions and therefore biased, that does not appear to be the case. Junho Kim (pictured below), a professional BMX/mountain bike racer, also weighed in with similar sentiments.
“They [older generations] weren’t exposed to the same technology we use today… its expected that they feel uncomfortable around it,” said Kim. “eSports… because of its competitive nature, it should definitely be considered a sport. They [eSports pros] train just like any other athlete in different disciplines, and compete for prestige and recognition. The essence of sports, what makes a sport a sport, is definitely present in eSports.”
Kim’s choice of sport, however, also brings up another issue: athleticism, or even health overall.
“Most bikers retire around the age of 36 because they really can’t handle the toll the sport takes on your body,” Kim claimed. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that was true- there were a plethora of scars all over Kim’s body. While other sports have a multitude of injuries as well, BMX/mountain bike racing is an extreme sport- leaving its participants even more prone to injury.
It seems that all “sports” require not only skill, but apparently athletic ability and possibility to injury- a description which, at first glance, doesn’t fit eSports any more than a cylinder in a triangular hole. According Lee, however, such a description fits gamers quite well.
“Everybody has things like hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and muscle memory. But these guys [professional gamers] have it trained so much more and more developed than pretty much anyone else- that can only be gained from dedicated, continued practice. You don’t just ‘get it’ like being able to run fast. Everyone got here from being good and training hard- talent alone won’t get you anywhere,” Lee explained. “Also, a lot of pros try to stay healthy as possible because being overweight or otherwise not in prime condition can affect your brain’s performance. Performance starts to be affected around mid-20’s- which is when most players retire. They can’t respond as quickly to certain situations, and pro gaming life is pretty toxic to both the mind and body. I’m pretty sure the average age when pro gamers retire can’t be more than 25 or 26 years old.”
While that explains the skill and athleticism part of what makes eSports players athletes, another argument still stands- eSports do not seem to be dangerous, physically or mentally, to its
participants. While people assume that players just play, eat chips, and sometimes yell over the mic at their teammates while reclining on a comfy, swiveling office chairs, the truth is quite far from that.
Common eSports injuries include wrist pains, upper and lower back pains, deep vein thrombosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, eye strain, arthritis, hypertrophy, etc. Many of these injuries can later on cause more, possibly lethal issues such as lower back pain from bad posture can possibly leave players more prone to collapsed lungs. Hypertrophy can lead to mobility/utility issues upon retirement and eye strain can lead to fading sight.
Furthermore, in a display that can only affirm the dedication of eSports athletes, most of these injuries are a result of the lifestyles gamers are universally leading. While not always, most gaming happens while seated- and in their concentration, players can be hunched over and develop a bad posture while having tense shoulders. Both posture and muscle tension leave them open to injuries or ailments later on. Carpal tunnel syndrome is like shin splints for eSports- it’s usually bound to happen for players due to their continued, excessive use of their hands. But they have no other choice.
Most professional athletes practice maybe three or four hours a day, six days a week. However, the most lax professional gamer practices for a minimum of eight hours a day, seven days a week. They refuse to not play on their days off as even a single day not playing could be detrimental to their performance.
Many gamers even practice for up to 13 hours a day, leaving only time for eating and minimal sleep. Reports have even shown that many pro gamers, especially Koreans, push their
own physical boundaries to reach their full potential and if that’s not the mentality of dedicated player, what is?
With the rise in popularity eSports has seen in recent times the debate will undoubtedly go on. Is eSports a sport, and its players athletes? The answer to such a question lies in one’s beliefs on what makes a sport. And while both sides of the argument continue to maintain their positions, only one thing can be said for sure: accept it or not, eSports is going to grow bigger and bigger with every passing moment.
