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Carlos Benavides
English 113A
Prof. Jackie Hymes
Research on eSports
In the most recent years, a sport in the virtual world has been becoming more popular and
anyone could have imagined. A leisure for most of the younger generation has evolved to a
profession. These virtual athletes calls for talent in not only the videogame itself, but it requires a
strong mentality, fortitude, and a drive to proceed on just like the "real" sports seen today.

Popularity of eSports has only been rising from the years. On the day of Halloween, the most
known game, League of Legends has done their final, in the Mercedes Benz Arena , Germany.
In the terms of real sports, this is the Superbowl or the Fifa world cup final. CCTV news counted
that more than thirty million concurrent viewers watched the League of Legends final. People
watching other people play the video game they like to play. The hosts illustrated that it's a game
of mind games, in other words planning and outsmarting the opponents. These keyboard warriors
fight as their virtual hero, with the many actions per second controlling their hero.

Gordon Hayward from Utah Jazz illustrates his interest of video games and eSports. Hayward
illustrates the professionals of video games and sports share the same stress levels, emotions
towards fans and self , and the drive to move on. These professionals are always pressured to
perform, and not let their fans down. The key difference Hayward believes,is that video games
require a lot of strategy, mental capability and strategy. and not so much of physical attributes. In
response to many rants toward videogame professionals (most notably Colin Cowherd on

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twitter) ,Hayward stands up for his fellow gamers. Hayward has a passion for videogames as
much as his profession.

In his article Owning esports:proprietary rights in computer gaming by DL Burt, he illustrates

the many concerns of integrity of such sport. Copyright in video games; in an overall sense, its
skeptical. Not all players are guaranteed a luxurious break, a stable contract, or they may not
even know about the creators themselves. In fact, the creators of a game may never contact a
certain player. Most of these contracts are ok at best, but they are never secure. He then argues
the angles, or the room for view a player in his virtual world is never enough compared to the
real sport counterpart. These players are always at a disadvantage because they cannot as much
as a person playing hockey will be able to see. However in the point of a spectator, it is even
more interesting because a spectator can see what the professional is doing in most games. His
movement in game and movement with the mouse. As a result, this leads to another speculation,
software copyright. It is uncertain that developers may have given unfair advantages toward
players in online tournaments. It is also possible broken coding can affect these tournaments. In
the recent years, these incidents have became less apparent. To ensure that players are equal,
LAN tournaments, or live events is almost a near-necessity for these tournaments to play. Which
then leads toward rules; Most eSports Leagues have their own set of rules, primarily focusing on
the room for glitches that may rarely occur. They tend to have the gentleman's agreement set of
rules, for example a request a pause to remake a game/restart. All and all, the article claims that
eSports, as of right now, no one can predict the future of it. It is an evolving sport, but to an
extent where copyright and secure positions are at risk.

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Many journalists are producing articles, as if it was an arms race. One journalist who has
attained a lot from this growth, Duncan Thorinnn Shields . Shields illustrates that to most
viewers, this is the entertainment of the PC gamers, most of these gamers dont play real sports,
which is why they like to see the game they like to play at a micro and macro intensive level.
These tournaments also produce drama, and to be bold, everyone wants a piece of drama. This is
where the soap opera of eSports is made, and many viewers are eager to know who caused
something to who.

In my view, eSports is only going to grow. Many teams are obtaining help from real sports. I
support eSports and tend to even wear clothes to represent the teams i like, where as the fans of
real sports tend to wear the brand their favorite team. Many colleges have their proper teams for
many video games, and i hope to be a part of one here in CSUN, i just have to get better.

Overall, eSports is a sport, it is currently underdevelopment. Their is many flaws in eSports, but
most developers are currently working to have the technology required to make it like a yellow
flag in soccer. As of right now, eSports is alike the gold rush, many individuals want to be that
top tier player in the video game they play; they want to be recognized as the Kobe or Lebron of
the video game. Investors have now been looking to this eSports, most notably China, paying
their players at least six figures a year. It is very possible to see eSports considered a real sport (it
already is in South Korea) in the rest of the world.

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Work Cited
DL Burt, Owning eSports : proprietary rights in computer gaming University of Pennsylvania
Law Review Volume 61 (issue 30 april 2013) pages 1535-1578
Duncan Shields, Thorin Thoughts eSports and Sports psychology Youtube , March 4 ,2015
CCTV America Kyle Orland on E-sports and competitive computer gaming Youtube, October
31,2015