Benavides 1

Carlos Benavides
Prof. Jackie Hymes
English 113A
12/5/2015
Integrity of eSports, it is a real Sport
As the world progresses, new forms of entertainment are created that the older generation
do not understand and the new generation adore. In the recent years, electronic sports (eSports)
has been excelling its foundation to the mainstream. Investors from around the world have been
waving their cash to professionals who do not have a strong physical physique, but toward those
who sit down on a chair all day and play videogames. In its current state, eSports is new to an
extent (roughly ten years), however it is rising in popularity faster than anyone could have
imagined. Although eSports is played on a virtual world, it is a sport because the integrity of the
game is identical traditional sports.
Opposers of eSports propose many arguments why eSports is nothing more than a
videogame and why investors should stop throwing away their money. On a statistic based on
Debate.org, the general public claim that eSports is a sport; clenching the vote 61% yes, 39% no.
The general consensus of the opposers believe that sports requires physical activity, which is a
common misconception. Physical activity does not define sport, competition does. The
competition eSports thrives on is the mental strength and performance, in essence means which

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team has the better strategy and deft skill. In the case of eSports, it requires a lot strategy (macro
play) akin to chess, which is considered a sport. Thus, eSports is a sport of strategy.
Another immense reason why eSports is not favored is the chance of negative affects to
the common teenager. In League of Legends (LoL), amateur players around the world allocate all
their resources into an attempt to become a professional. In his article, Owning esports:
Proprietary Rights in Computer Gaming by DL Burt exemplifies players who want to reach to
the top tend to be at risk of cyber bullying or cause more harm to their future by not going to
college. For example, Nicholas Haddad, a once pro player in LoL, is currently suffering with
Type 1 Bipolar Disorder as a result from attaining a significant amount of stress from playing.
Haddad gives an overall statement from his damaged station, LCS (League Championship
Series) puts a ton of pressure on teenagers who mainly come right out of school and are not
always prepared to deal with such a drastic lifestyle change. (Haddad, 07/29/14). Being a
professional in the eSport industry is a risk. In the recent years however, a player union has been
created for these upcoming athletes to feel more secure to pursue their dreams. Stephen Ellis, a
former pro player, has been incorporating his title to attain help from other sources to form this
player union (mcvuk.com). A union will ensure benefits for players to not be afraid of any mess
they might have to fear when being a professional. One common backup is using the media, and
streaming the game they are professionally in. Michael Santana, former pro player of League of
Legends easily attains $8000 a month by streaming the game he likes to play (Aeron). However,
most professionals will use their strategy prowess and teach others for pay. Not only

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professionals attain special treatment, but the whole player base of a game are almost all granted
some sort of protection.
Another inimical driving force is Cyber Bullying that may alter the lives of young
individuals playing their favorite game. The answer to cyber bullying is the company granting
many punishments and attempts to reform the offenders. In the case of popular video games, like
LoL or Counterstrike, the game companies offer chances for an offender to change their act, or
suffer a loss of entire progress in their game. Threatening isn't the primary solution, League of
Legends advocates people to be a proper teammate, rewarding them in virtual goods. For the
victim, they can permanently mute an offender or ask support to help them in their situation of
their respective game. In his article, The social side of gaming by Sabrine Trepte, video games
in general aid the introvert community, or unsocial people. Trepte illustrates video games is a
way of escaping to some. A trend of introverts illustrate that gaming is a common way for the
incapable, to socialize through gaming. Thus, eSports help the timid to branch out to real
community, by hosting events that will interest people just like him or her. With that, video
games in general is the common interest for most individuals around the world.
The interest of e-sports is ultimately because it's new, and a potential gold rush. As of
right now, no one can predict how far the video game sport can progress ; it already is
progressing twelve times faster than American football (Casselman, espn). In Korea, e-sports
is already established as a sort high regarded by the government .The Korean e-sports Agency
has many tournaments daily in Korea, even mobile games. Korean TV broadcasts reruns of old

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tournaments and current tournaments. Highly regarded companies, like Samsung or Jin Air
sponsor these athletes to represent their industry in international tournaments. The domestic
success for e-sports is established in South Korea as a whole, it's time for the rest of the world.
Recently, American has been advocating the sport. As of 2013, eSport athletes here in
USA can receive travelling VISAs, implying that the United States governments recognizes
eSports as a credible sport (DL. Burt). Most universities in USA have esport clubs because of the
many tournaments held for universities. Even here in CSUN, students founded an e-sports club
to participate in tournaments that offer scholarships. The overall reason why e-sports attracts
viewers, which is watching other people play the video game they like, is because of
competition. Akin to traditional sports, in the station of e-sports, Americans have pride and love
to watch their domestic team fight against international powerhouses. Gordon Hayward and Rick
fox from the NBA believe esports is a sport with less physical training. It is a competitive team
game, and requires not only one player but all to win says Rick Fox. It requires a lot more
mental strength and not so much of psychical energy, illustrates Gordon Hayward. With this
credibility, in an overall sense, they viewed it as game of Five dimensional chess claims Mark
Cuban, which requires a lot of trust in teammates and one's capability to perform in high pressure
situations. The sport is evolving, requiring integrity and diligent players, management and
contracts to maintain its title as a sport.
E-sports have many leagues for their respective game, which calls for mandatory
contracts and integrity players. The average salary varies from game to the club/team. These

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athletes, in the minimum at least make enough for some leisure (ONeil). Alike traditional sports,
no athletes share the same salary, but they are all offered some security (DL Burk). The security
they attain is to ensure they do not fall to a overhauling event. For example, A club Meet Your
Makers (League of Legends) or MYM,attempted to control their player, Marcin Wolski, to play
for them when he wasn't able to. If Wolski didn't, the club will take over his mother's house
(Richard Lewis). Obviously an event like this isn't acceptable, so in order to maintain integrity,
the club was heavily fined by Riot, the developers of LoL, and release the player from MYM
jail. Another concern is that videogames have the chance of bugs in programming (DL Burk).
To compensate with the potential corrupt program, games can either remake a scenario, the
whole game even, or have a system like football (soccer) card system. There will always be bugs
in some professional events, but they can definitely be fixed. The only cost of a bug is a few
minutes of wasted time. E-sports is very much similar to traditional sports, the main difference
is that the professionals play behind a monitor and a computer.
The life of a cyber athlete is less tiring physically, but it is more tiring mentally than a
traditional sport. In her article, Where Playing Video Games Is a Life by Jennifer Veale
interviews Choi Yeun Sung. Sung practices for eleven hours a day, I just practice as much as I
can, so I improve explains Sung. All cyber athletes are expected to be ready to practice an
exaggerated amount to reach the top. You need absolute mind control, says Ju Hoon, the coach
of Sung (sports psychology grad). Not to mention the potential isolation, the life of a sport
athlete is a lot more strenuous and strict than a boy playing video games for fun. Being a virtual

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athlete is a commitment to their videogame, which removes the window for leisure during most
regular season days. Video Game athletes follow strict schedules, practice and eat, throughout
their day to attain the best results of understanding the game they play professionally.
All and all, eSports foundation has excelled to one of the most statically concurrent
viewership in the world. This new form of entertainment will be in this current generation's
history. These cyber athletes in eSports do not slack off, they are heroes to majority of gamers
creating a sense of inspiration to many. ESports is growing every year, being increasingly
respected by traditional athletes and the media. ESports is in its early stages of a sport, it will
grow indefinitely.

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Work Cited
Casselman, Ben, Resistance is futile: eSports is massive...and growing. Espn.com. Web.
06/10/2015
Cerrudo, Aileen, Should eSports be Considered as a Sport? Inquirer.net .Web. 05/26/2015
Veale, Jennifer, Where Playing Video Game Is a Life. Time.com. Web. 05/14/2015
Lewis, Richard, MYM threatened Kori with taking his mothers house Dailydot.com. Web.
Feb 8, 2015.
Esports articles. The 10 greatest players in eSports History. Dailydot.com. Web. Aug 6, 2013.
Nicholas Haddad. Letter to His Fans about his mental health. July 29, 2014
Trepte, Sabine The Social side of Gaming: How playing online computer games creates online
and offline social support. Year 2011, vol:28 iss:3 pg:832 -839
DL Burt, Owning eSports : proprietary rights in computer gaming. University of Pennsylvania
Law Review Volume 61 (issue 30 april 2013) pages 1535-1578
Jesse Aeron, How Much can you Make Streaming as a Professional Video gamer.
Huffingpost.com. Web. 03/27/2015