Patrick Jo
E-Sports is a massive competitive stage where players in the gaming scene participate in organized video gaming. Competitors from different backgrounds and leagues join together and face off against one another to win a large pool of money. Nowadays,
E-Sports is being more accepted as a sport and the players are being perceived as athletes. Even universities across America have started considering E-Sports as a real sport, in which the players are granted scholarships for video gaming.
The controversial question within society that sparks debate is whether this form of activity should be considered an actual sport.
I believe that E-Sports should be considered a sport, and here is why. The main argument against this opinion is the fact that E-Sports requires no physical activity whatsoever, but only requires the player to move their fingers and hands when coordinating with the video game equipment, such as consoles, hand controllers, or computer keyboards, but being an E-Sport athlete requires many of the same capabilities as a sports athlete.
Players in the E-Sports leagues and tournaments play games for a living. These players, just like other athletes, dedicate their time and efforts in improving and practicing every day to stay on top and perform the best they can. Every team in the leagues has a coach just like regular sports, and they skirmish and practice together as a team to build up synergy together. To become a pro and one of the few people to stand on stage and play, you need to invest a lot of time and thinking. To become a professional in any sport or game, you need to learn diverse skills and techniques to further your skill and, in a sense, bring something new to the table.
In E-Sports, keep in mind, millions of people in America and around the world play these video games, and in order to be a successful gamer, you need to perform better than around 99% of those people that actually play the game, so not everyone gets to participate and become a pro player. Hypothetically, number wise, out of around 10 million players, only around 100-200 become actual competitive players (less than 1%). The odds of becoming a professional player are very slim and it takes lots of dedication and mental exertion to rise up as a competitor.
Sports are also considered entertainment and E-Sports fits that criteria. E-Sport tournaments are beginning to be broadcast on ESPN across the United States, making a statement within society that many people enjoy to watch video gaming tournaments as they would watch a normal football match.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines sports as “An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” I believe that E-Sports correlates with the dictionary’s definition of sports because not only does E-Sports involve a person’s impressive skill, but they also compete against other people for entertainment.
In conclusion, E-Sports should be acknowledged and considered as a sport because of the amount of dedication and skill that a video game athlete needs that can be easily compared to that of a normal sports athlete.
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