7 Tips: Understanding Esports Athletes, Fans And Gaming Culture
From the Academic Esports Guide, simple strategies such as
learning the lingo to the games being played can get educators into a space
enjoyed by so many students.
Kelly Defina/Getty Images This column is part of a series of
articles from the AcademicEsports Guide, which serves as a primer for schools
and faculty interested in getting started in competitive video gaming.
At first glance, esports, or competitive video gaming for
the uninitiated, can seem confusing. The desire to play video games as a hobby
to derive pleasure was once hard to comprehend for some but now it’s widely
accepted and understood. According to Newzoo, there are more than 2.7 billion
gamers in the world, which is just under 30% of the global population. In
America, the percentage is much higher, at nearly 70%, according to a study by
Electronic Entertainment Design and Research.
More than 200 post-secondary institutions and more than
1,500 secondary schools are officially supporting esports with varsity
programs. PlayVS, a California-based company focused on developing the high
school esports space, has raised millions through investment. Some colleges are
offering esports-focused academic programs. This is just the beginning. Esports
industry insiders agree that it’s only a matter of time before esports is
adopted and officially supported on the same level as traditional athletics.
Getting started now will still put your school ahead of the curve. Let’s
explore seven things to understand about esports athletes, fans and gaming
culture:
1. Are esports considered sports? Are participants
considered athletes? Debate has raged for years and it will likely be many more
years before we see any sort of consensus agreement. The Oxford Dictionary
definition states that sport is “An activity involving physical exertion and
skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for
entertainment.” By that definition, most people are quick to point out that
esports do not involve physical exertion and therefore are not sports. There
are many counter-arguments to this however. ESPN, a network focused on sports
broadcasting, promotes poker, cup stacking and speed pool as well as many other
activities that don’t quite fit the definition of sport either. And during the
Covid-19 pandemic, has done so with esports. So why not esports? Recently, a
gamer that learned to race through simulator esports racing took on a
professional Formula 1 driver in a real race car and won! The reality is that
it doesn’t matter. Regardless of whether it becomes widely accepted as sport or
not will not slow down its tremendous growth. The only important thing to
understand is the opportunities surrounding esports, rather than the semantics
of “sport”.
2. Speaking of semantics, is it “esports”, “eSports”, or “e-gaming”?
While it may not make a difference whether esports are considered sports, the
lingo you use to talk about esports does matter. For many years, people fought
over the spelling, but in 2017 the Associated Press settled the debate. The
decision was made that “esports” is the proper spelling. Using anything else is
a quick way to show that you are not well informed. To a Millennial or
post-Millennial, someone using a word like “e-games” clearly signifies that the
person in question is out of touch.
Similarly, the term “esports athlete(s)” can be used in
certain situations, however, “gamers” or “competitors” are much more widely
accepted terms. Understanding this very basic lingo can prevent you from making
some early missteps that could discredit what you’re trying to do in the eyes
of your target audience. Gamers place a high value on authenticity. Rather than
pretending to understand the space, you’re better off admitting your ignorance
and leaning on your students for advice. Esports on the high school and college
level to date has been built primarily by passionate students. Empower your
students with the tools, resources and guidance to build a program, then step
out of the way. The authenticity will shine through and create for a much
stronger program and your students will benefit from experiential learning.
3. So I’m supposed to just give my students a Tetris game
and that’s going to somehow be valuable for them? Another important distinction
to make is that not all video games can be esports and therefore not all gamers
are interested in esports. Most esports are purpose-built to be played
competitively. Taking the time to learn which games are esports and which ones
are not will further help you connect with this demographic. While exploring this
topic fully would require a chapter of its own, an example may at least begin
to explain this idea. Just as working out at the gym does not mean someone is
competing in a sport, playing Super Mario Bros. does not mean someone is
competing in esports. The most popular esports are team games that require
cooperation, strategy and execution by a group. They are not solo activities.
Supporting an environment that allows students to learn these games can create
immense value in terms of learning teamwork, communication, and problem-solving
skills.
4. Are there any other similarities with traditional sports
that make this easier to understand? Definitely, and probably many more than
you think. First of all, a similarity that many people that are discovering esports
for the first time have a hard time grasping is that just like in athletics
where you have separate teams for different sports as in basketball and
volleyball, in esports there are separate teams for different games. For
example, in esports there may be a League of Legends team, an Overwatch team,
and a Rocket League team. Further to that point, competitors for a particular
game may not necessarily be interested or may not be any good at another game.
In traditional athletics, especially once athletes reach the collegiate level,
they tend to specialize in one sport. The same is mostly true for esports
competitors. Therefore, an esports program is structured very similarly to an
athletics program often with a director overseeing a staff of coaches that each
work with individual teams comprised of multiple players that compete in a
single game. In high school, students likely will still be experimenting with
many games, so the structure can be a little more freeform to allow for
flexibility. The similarities don’t stop there. Training schedules can be
almost identical in esports to traditional sports with designated practice
times, film review sessions, strategy meetings to review playbooks, game times,
travel to tournaments, and even team workouts. Yes, gamers hit the gym just
like their traditional athlete counterparts. As the adage goes, “healthy body,
healthy mind”. Competitors in esports may not display the same athletic
abilities while competing as athletes in traditional sports, but they require
strong mental fortitude. High-level gamers are tasked with executing hundreds
of actions per minute, with near-perfect accuracy and precision, for long
periods of time, requiring top-notch mental stamina. To accomplish this with
consistency, a healthy lifestyle is essential. Building in health and fitness
requirements to your program not only will help your players perform better in
game, but it also will help shake some of the negative gamer stereotypes.
5. That’s not what I Imagine when I think of gamers. What
are they like? For decades, the media has presented video game enthusiasts as
unhealthy, antisocial, and lacking ambition. Even today as the number of gamers
in North America outnumbers non-gamers, these stereotypes continue to be
perpetuated through film and television. In reality, the average modern gamer
doesn’t quite fit this narrow definition. Gamers come from all walks of life
and every shape and size. In many ways, the accessibility of video games means
more people have the opportunity to participate than in traditional athletics.
We see band geeks, jocks, rockers and straight-A high achievers competing
shoulder to shoulder. Although the number of women involved is still relatively
low, we are beginning to see gender barriers in esports disappear with many
women filling roles on high school, collegiate varsity and professional-level
teams. The accessibility and welcoming community in esports has resulted in a
sizeable number of participants from the LGBTQ community as well. Ask any high
school program faculty lead and they will tell you that the esports club has
given many students who previously didn’t have anywhere to belong, a home on
campus to call their own. In addition, many esports competitors take their
craft just as seriously, if not more seriously than traditional athletes. Stop
into the training facilities on a varsity campus and you’ll see gamers
demonstrating extreme focus and dedication to their game, along with an intense
emotional connection to their results. In the world of esports, it’s not all
fun and games. Competitors take esports seriously, and so should you.
6. Why should I take this so seriously? Is it really that
big? The short answer is yes. In North America, the first collegiate varsity
team appeared in 2014. Six years later there are more than 200 post secondary
institutions offering varsity esports which easily represents more than 2,000
student-athletes and new schools are launching programs just about every week.
This represents millions of dollars in new scholarships for high school
students looking to pursue a position on a collegiate roster after graduation.
For those not interested in competing, many colleges are beginning to offer
esports academic programs to help students learn the business and content
creation skills necessary to work in the esports industry. On the professional
level, investors are purchasing franchises for millions of dollars, some
players are earning six-figure salaries, and hundreds of millions of dollars in
prizing are up for grabs. According to Statista, revenues in the esports
industry eclipsed $1 billion in 2019. The interest for esports has created
viewership numbers that rival some of the biggest traditional sporting events
in the world. The world championships for League of Legends in 2018 reached a
peak of 99.6 million viewers, up from 57.6 million in 2017.
Read more: What Is ESports History Top Teams Revenues And Risks
7. The interest is there. How can schools benefit? As
mentioned previously, esports is very accessible. In addition, it appeals to a
segment of the student population that isn’t often reached through traditional
student life programming. Together, these factors mean that a well-implemented
esports strategy will improve student life on campus for a large segment of the
student population. The idea that gamers are antisocial is a myth. The reality
is that very few opportunities to socialize while enjoying activities catered
to this demographic have been explored. First-hand experience has demonstrated
that by creating a space and activities for gamers, you create opportunities
for positive social interaction that can often result in the formation of
strong friendships. This, in turn, has a positive effect on mental health. If
this benefit alone is not enough there is another area where esports can create
big opportunities for high school students and that’s as a pathway to a post
secondary education. More than 200 colleges now support varsity-level esports
competition. This is still only a fraction of the more than 4,500
post-secondary institutions North America but all indications suggest that it’s
not a matter of if esports is adopted into schools, but rather when. This means
that thousands of scholarship opportunities will become available over the next
few years. Launching a program can give your students an edge when it comes to
pursuing those opportunities. Luckily, another major benefit is that the
startup cost is fairly low in comparison to traditional athletics. To get
started on a basic level all that is required are six gaming computers and a
small amount of space. Most competitions take place online so there is no need
for travel.
The idea of bringing esports to your school may seem
overwhelming. Many of you may finish reading and immediately move on to
something else. However, the most important thing to understand is that esports
is coming, whether you embrace it or not. Students took the initiative and
started hundreds of clubs and competitive teams at schools all around North
America long before the first officially sanctioned program was established.
That being said, the potential to create improvements to student life can lead
to immensely positive benefits for students and schools alike. Although the
task may seem daunting, the time to get involved is now.
Shaun Byrne is a Professor St. Clair College in Windsor,
Ontario, and the Esports Director for Saints Gaming (SaintsGaming.ca), its
varsity Esports program. St. Clair was the first post-secondary institution in
Canada to fully embrace varsity esports. Starting in January 2019, he also
began serving as program coordinator and faculty lead for the Esports
Administration and Entrepreneurship academic program, one of only a handful of
programs in the world training students for careers in the esports industry.
Prior to his positions at the college, Shaun founded and served as CEO for
Esport Gaming Events, Inc. (EGE.gg) from 2012 until 2017. EGE hosted more than 100
successful Esports events in that five-year span throughout Ontario, Quebec and
Michigan, including Good Game Con, the largest, with more than 3,000 live
participants in 2016, as well as Saints Gaming Live in 2017, which served as
proof of concept for the esports programs at St. Clair College. Although Shaun
doesn’t have as much time to play games these days, when he gets the
opportunity his favorites are Super Smash Bros., and Fortnite.
