E-Sports Gaming : A possible future or unknown trap?

E-Sports is a hot topic in recent years. It is like a competition that takes place through video games where players compete with each other in the digital arena. Although organized competitions have long been a part of video game culture, these were largely between amateurs until the late 2000s, when participation by professional gamers and spectatorship in these events through live streaming saw a large surge in popularity. In 2013, 23 million people streamed the final match of the annual League of Legends tournament, which is more than any game of the World Series being streamed that year. Due to its expanding popularity, large companies such as Audi and Coco-Cola have begun sponsoring professional eSports teams as well.

The rising popularity of eSports means game developers have particularly begun to embrace more of a competitive nature and tweak their multiplayer modes to be eSports ready. For instance, Overwatch, a popular shooter game, has competitive seasons that restart every few months. This is a ranked version of gameplay in which players stay on the same team for a full attack/defense rotation. Wins increase your score, and a loss will penalize you, regardless of how well you may have individually performed in the game.

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E-Sports as a possible future:

Studies are showing that gaming, especially professional gaming, shows a correlation between one’s level of gaming ability and one cognitive ability. Studies done by Foundry10, a research firm dedicated to researching how people learn, confirm this: “We observed a significant relation between gaming experience and response time on the location memory task… Furthermore, our results extend previous gaming research that suggests that individual differences in gaming experience are correlated with the speed of recalling spatial information from long-term memory.” So, even though eSports is becoming a booming business for gaming and entertainment, researchers are also finding new reasons as to why gaming can be beneficial for your health and acknowledging the necessary level of skill, concentration, and dedication that it takes to become a professional player.

Gaming increases cognitive skills but excess of the activity can damage the brain cells

Recently there was the Free Fire Asia Championship middle of 2020, in which one team “Total Gaming E-Sports” from India participated. After the matches, they were interviewed and told that there were many teams/squads which had their coaches who help to motivate them throughout the tournament. Unfortunately for them, there was no one to guide them. This was not the surprise we were expecting; but we also got to know that someone from the team that won this Free Fire Asia Championship (I personally don’t remember the name of team) had one of the team-mate as a 13 year old boy (his name was POONGOD; one can get his info by Googling “Poongod ff”)who was bossing every game he played. Such was his good hand-eye coordination, control and heavy attention to each and every details around; that he gave no chance to heavily experienced pros around.

Anyways, E-Sports is gradually growing in India with players showcasing their skills in trending mobile games like Garena Free Fire, Call of Duty Mobile and PC Gamer’s paradise Call of Duty Warzone, Valorant, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, etc. But they are unable to feature on the big stage due to a lack of support from the community.

Playing these games can help a gamer to think strategically and act accordingly. It teaches one how to make an efficient decision which will be beneficial for the player and also for his team. The strategical flavor adds a chess-like environment around the map where a player has to think and act at any moment. This helps people make quick decision in case one is faced with a sudden peril.

So to recap, the key benefits are:

1. Cognitive and Social Development

2. Improved hand-eye coordination

3. Improved attention & visual acuity

4. Improved basic visual processing and executive function

5. Problem-solving & strategy skill development

6. 71% of parent report gaming having net positive effects for children

7. Boosts self-confidence and player socialization

8. 54% of gamers say gaming helps them connect with friends

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Is E-Sports a trap leading nowhere?

Personally, NO. But views on this matter may vary from person to person. Even though there is a lot of positives taken from E-Sports, there are cons as well. Many times, children tend to spend more time in the digital arena rather than the physical arena. This tends to hamper the physical stamina of children. Children may become passive in their approach and may tend to avoid mixing up with people.

It is though suggested that one must play these extreme games if and only if he/she is going to pursue E-Sports as a professional carrier. Some people though are blessed with the skills of gaming but one should not spend too much time on it. Also, maturity is equally important while handling the games, because if not; it may hamper strategic thinking skills and one might just waste countless hours of time in front of the screen thinking of it as entertainment. This is where addiction may develop and this may incur a change in mindset or personality.

Overall, the conclusion is, if you are looking for E-Sports as a carrier, pursue it, but it is recommended to keep it as a secondary skill. E-Sports is expected to be a big platform in upcoming years and it may serve as an open gate to many players in India to showcase their talent.