The eSports and Olympic Games: Perspectives of an ongoing debate

Abstract

This literature review paper aims to understand the different perspectives on the inclusion or not of eSports in the Olympic Games programme. ESports (electronic sports) popularity among world's youth population grows daily. The eSports phenomenon became a new form of entertainment with its own financial means and cultural practices, very close related to streaming technology, and ultimately bringing new questions and challenges for the so-called 'traditional sports' field. The audience success sparked the gaming industry with a considerable economic growth, transforming a backyard practice in the beginning of the century into a worldwide recognized activity; a megaevent in terms of infrastructure and media coverage. Therefore, in a short period of time the debate about eSports become recognized as 'sport' as well as to be include into the Olympic Games programme emerged. In recent years, some decisions heated this debate. For example, at the occasion of the 6th Summit of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), held at Lausanne (Switzerland) in 2017, eSports were placed on the agenda about the future of the Olympic Movement. As a result of the Summit discussions, the IOC concluded that (1) eSports have been demonstrating a sharp growth with the youth of several countries and could become a platform for engagement between this young population and the Olympic Movement; (2) eSports can be considered a physical activity and the players training intensity could be compared to 'traditional sports' athletes; (3) to be recognized as sport by the IOC, the contents of eSports must not violate the Olympic Values; and (4) in order to the IOC grant recognition, an international

The impact of videogames on the mood of amateur youth players during consecutive games

“…Esports, considered online video game competitions, have experienced a great growth and development in recent decades, leading to a massive increase in the number of players, spectators, and competitions worldwide (1)(2)(3). Competition is the most relevant element of Esports, with large economic investments being made and large-capacity facilities being used to host the events (4,5). Due to its relevance, scientific research has been carried out in recent years to discover the most determinant variables in the performance of players during competitions (6)(7)(8)(9), finding that environmental and personal variables are determinant.…”