What is e-sport?
E-sport (or electronic sport) developed in the early 2000s with two main games: Counter Strike and Starcraft. These are online video game afk arena tier list competitions (on the internet) or via a local area network (LAN), alone or in teams, and carried out in three possible ways:
The player facing the machine (Man vs Machine)
Two opponents competing against each other (Man vs Man)
Two teams of several players, playing against each other (Team vs Team)
E-sport took off in the late 1980s with the development and democratization of the Internet and consequently multiplayer network games.
The evolution of video games since the 90s (here Counter strike)
How is e-sport akin to a sporting discipline?
Is e-sport a sport in the same way as we understand it to be a “traditional” sport? The question is legitimate. A few answers.
A real physical effort
At first glance, we would tend to say that playing on a console is far from the image that we commonly have of sportsmanship… But don’t be mistaken, gamers are real sportsmen! Of course, they don’t have the physique of athletes as we imagine them, but they follow specific training and impose on themselves a lifestyle worthy of top athletes. They develop skills such as visual acuity, speed, team strategy… they also show calm, tactical sense and know how to manage their stress well; all this thanks to the support of their coach who boosts them like boxers in a ring.
A clean ecosystem: competitions, economy, brands and sponsors… like most sports!
There are dozens of different competitions organized by a handful of players, either independent (such as the Electronic Sports World Cup ESWC, created in 2003 by the company Oxent) or linked to game publishers (such as EA Sports). E-sports tournaments have evolved rapidly: from the beginnings where LANs were organized in gymnasiums or schools to world championships organized in prestigious arenas such as the League of Legends championship organized no more and no less than at within the “Bird’s Nest”, the emblematic Beijing Olympic stadium that hosted the 2008 Olympics. The event brought together no less than 40,000 spectators and more than a hundred million “viewers” (online viewers )… almost as much as during the Superbowl, the most popular sporting event in the United States!
Not to mention the amounts involved: the main international competitions generate several million dollars in turnover with gains of the order of a million dollars for the winning team! The market is estimated at nearly $1 billion in 2018 and is set to explode in the coming years, with an estimate of over $1.6 billion in 2021 (based on Statista research).
E-sport then attracts its share of sponsors, media and sports brands or not, it brings together clubs and communities of players and is even under the eye of governments whose intervention is necessary to oversee the development of this sector. A regulatory body and control of the practice in competition Esports Integrity Coalition was even created in 2016 to fight against the excesses linked to new economic and financial issues.
Perhaps the most striking element in the process of recognizing e-sport as a sport in its own right: an international electronic sport federation “the international e-sport federation” (IeSF) was created in 2010 in order to promote discipline and have discipline recognized. In 2016, the Olympic Committee recognized esports as a sport giving gamers hope to see their sport at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
What place for e-sport in South Asia?
In recent years, we have observed a democratization of e-sport, driven in particular by growing media coverage. 2016 was a significant year for e-sport, which was officially recognized as a sporting discipline under the law for a Digital Republic supported by Axelle Lemaire, then Secretary of State for Digital Affairs. In particular, the law provides for a social status for professional players, a legal framework for the organization of tournaments, the creation of the French Federation of e-sport, etc.
