A competition sport?
Recently, the IOC declared that eSports could become an Olympic sport by 2020. The Asian Games have already made the advance announcement that a variety of eSports will be formally included in the 2022 competitions.
Gaming, which was formerly only for fun, is quickly becoming into the sport of the future. With expectations for rising profits, eSports athletes currently receive salaries on par with the best athletes in the world. In the first of a two-part blog series, well examine the eSports hype and determine whether or not "cyber athletes" truly are the future stars of sports.
An Olympic sport
Esports may become an Olympic sport by 2020, according to the IOC. Ahead of schedule, the Asian Games have already declared that certain eSports will be formally featured in the 2022 competitions.
Who Views
Perhaps youre not aware with the idea of gaming as a global class event, which is not unexpected given that gamers tend to fall under the category of "geeks." This is partly because you usually need to know how to play a game in order to enjoy it. Because of this, it primarily serves as a sporting event for young fans.
However, there are a tonne of supporters, especially in Asia. Its obvious to take eSports seriously given the overwhelming number of viewers. For instance, almost 100 million people watched a recent "League of Legends" championship in China alone. The number of people playing the biggest eSports games grows yearly, and the internet is more than happy to provide this demand. Software advancements have even made it possible for many eSports to be freely watched from within the actual game engine in spectacular 4K, something that traditional sports just cannot provide.
Turning Pro
Viewing numbers in line with the world’s biggest sports league certainly whet the appetite of sponsors and advertisers. For this reason, eSports went professional many years ago, with teams of gamers living in shared housing managed by coaches becoming a norm. Things are moving on from that quickly. Now the biggest eSports teams are turning to sports science to raise their game, including using NeuroTracker to sharpen their minds. This video gives a glimpse into how cyber athletes are conditioning their minds on the latest cognitive training technologies.
Although cognitive training is seen as the new frontier in sport performance, if the trend continues, it will actually be a generation of cyber athletes who will be setting the standard for how to hone the mind for optimal performance.