Electronic Sports is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. However, many don’t find it to be a legitimate sport. Pressing buttons can’t really compare to any physical enduring sport but should that disqualify it from being a respected sport. I don’t believe it should, E-sports hosts many game titles where pro players are able to compete competitively in tournament style brackets for a chance to be crowned champion (similar to tradition forms of playoffs). There is also a skill gap that differentiates the casual players from the pros. The most important aspect of E-sports is the global recognition it has.
Calling E-sports dynamic would be an understatement. There’s not just one game that everyone has to play, there are different genres with their own pool of distant game titles. Each game has its own fans, culture, and community. Since each specific game is owned by a separate company, it allows them to change their game however they see fit. This means that games are constantly evolving and ultimately so is E-sports. This type of variety and ever-changing landscape isn’t seen in traditional sports but, it’s arguably better and exciting.
The difference between the average gamer and a pro player skill level is similar to every other professional sport. There are players that play for fun, competitive players, and also pros gamers. Pro players practice their game religiously training up to 8-10 hours a day in their respective games. Most pro players are streamers (play live for their fans to watch and interact with them) so even when they’re not training they are still playing that game. Average players just play games for fun in their free time, pro players take their games extremely seriously and it’s their full-time job. With E-sports having so many games titles for players to become the best at, the pool of talent is reaches tens of millions, so it is not easy to go pro.
E-sports is loved and accepted worldwide. There are pro players from all around the world and E-sport tournaments being held internationally in every corner of the globe. E-sports have earned such a worldwide presence because anyone can pick up a controller and play the same game the pros do. It doesn’t matter who you are, your age, or where you come from. Anyone can be a part of the E-sports community; whether that through being a fan or a pro player. To add to that, I believe that the key elements that make E-sports so popular and arguably superior to traditional sports are its community the camaraderie that fans and players have amongst each other.
To sum this up, E-sports should be considered a sport. Tournaments are highly competitive and can get extremely intense, also there are million dollars tournaments to boot. The skill gap amounts players is quite larger, there can be 25 million plus players playing the same game and only a thousand are pros. Lastly, the presence that E-sports has around the world is unreal. People many love video games and enjoy watching them. Over time people are just going to have to accept the fact the E-sport is a legitimate sport. It the fastest growing industry and earning a lot of money that even ESPN has teamed up with them. E-sports is the future, not only for gaming, but for all kinds of sports.
