Esports or Electronic sports for those living under a rock, has grown dramatically over the years. It has an active competitive scene, corporate sponsors making a beeline for the nearest big thing, The gaming industry is actually bigger than the movie industry and will continue to grow. It's grown so much its turning heads.

Those heads have indeed been turned last April 2017 where Esports will now be a medal event in the 2022 Asian games. With games like Dota 2, Hearthstone and Starcraft 2 being the headliners. There's was even a clamor a year ago for it to be included in the 2020 Tokyo olympics! Imagine that, a game which used to be a hobby, can be spoken alongside the likes of swimming track and basketball.

I'm a gamer myself and i too am excited about how the hobby is catching on and garnering interest worldwide, but is this really okay? Here is my unpopular opinion, and 10 reasons why i'm sticking to it.

#1 People forget gaming is a very addictive and popular hobby

I'm not going to focus on the extreme isolated cases wherein people really died from gaming but just on your regular average Joe. Yes, it's addictive, Yes you can go on for hours straight, Days even. Bringing it to the competitive scene internationally in a stage like the Olympics will solidify its hold even more. Countries will scramble into developing their "teams" to get a chance for a medal.

It's popularity will be a bane and will be discussed in my next point;

#2 It's very accessible and gives the illusion anyone can do it

Which is bad for this generation's future. Games are fun, they are widespread for a reason and that's because they're for everyone, there's really no specific trait that's going to stop you from being good at it, in Basketball you need height, track ungodly speed, Football foot and eye coordination and so forth, and while people may argue that it requires a special talent to be good at gaming, or to be even part of the pro scene, it doesn't kill the illusion that it's achievable. Kids might realize that too late, the lines between fun and fame/glory/money will blur.

This kid could be an aspiring Olympian, him and billions of others

#3 Unlike traditional sports, it's unhealthy

You train for Basketball you develop your stamina, your arms. You train for Football you strengthen your core and your legs. You train for Chess you sharpen your mind and it's not even in the Olympics! You train for Esports? You get fat, you get weary, and the most dangerous thing is, unlike other sports, there's no fail safe, your body won't shut down from too much gaming, you won't run out of breath, you won't get cramps, your muscles wont hurt but its hurting you inside slowly.

Sleep deprivation is just the beginning

#4 How to decide which games to include? There are tons

Sure you can decide via popularity, most viewed and most played. It's limiting which to choose is the problem. You can't add more games, more games means more medals and you can't have one Country win the Olympics by capitalizing on this. There will be politics involved, gaming is a multi billion dollar industry. The mere inclusion of Blizzard's hearthstone in the Asian games will be a big boost in sales. The exclusion of the equally popular game League of Legends in the 2022 games was seen as a underhanded move and you can expect that there will be more.
There are lots to choose from and those could be medals

#5 It will create more (un)professional teams

Being in a professional teams isn't as rough as it used to. Gamers are now paid salaries as they would have on a regular job. They're paid bonuses when they win in tournaments. Just recently, Team Liquid from Dota 2 won 10 million dollars which is big and lucrative to say the least. So what's the problem? the problem is it's a industry built on winning. You don't win, you don't earn as much, and while they're indeed paid salaries, for what guarantee on how long? Players are fired, shuffled and the window is short, Gamers above 30 years old start to experience what they say a decline in their reaction time which is crucial for gaming. The Olympics will see a rise in teams and the Esports professional league i believe isn't enough to support such an influx of talent just yet.
Team Liquid Winning the International 2017 and 10 million dollars.

#6 It's prone to be dominated by CHINA and other Asian countries.

I have nothing against China, in fact, they lost in the recent DOTA tournament finals which featured the best of the best. The catch? Four of the top 5 teams in that tournament, were from China. Most top teams from Europe will have to be broken up if people are going to play for their respective Countries. China will have a powerhouse. Basketball was dominated by the US by the 90s and has never looked back since, so what's the difference you ask? It's just one medal, Esports could potentially be a multi medal category in the Olympics. Besides, let's face it, with such a powerful US team dominating and the other countries playing catch up, basketball in the international scene has been dull, such will be the fate of Esports as well.

Hate the game not the player

#7 Gaming is ever evolving

Dota 2 wasn't a thing until a couple of years ago, Overwatch and Starcraft 2 is fairly new. Newer titles and newer games will replace them. fads come and go, how will this be addressed? Will we see a dota 3 in the 2028 Olympics? It's not fair for the old players for their game to die out as it would eventually. Hey i heard you were a gold medalist in Starcraft 2 back then! Awesome! too bad nobody plays that anymore, it's 2050.

Then and now

#8 Then there's the debate if it's really a SPORT

The Olympics is a sporting event, and a Sport as defined by most would be a physical activity which aims to improve our physical activity. Sure Esports improves your hand eye coordination, your verbal communication, your wits but that's about it. It's a hard sell for people around the globe to promote a competition solely based on entertainment value.

Don't you just love the good weather outdoors?

#9 It will magnify a toxic problem : Gambling, Match fixing, Violence and other political intrigues and scandals

As if we haven't had enough from Boxing already, It's rampant in the gaming community that's already borderline toxic with its population of minors, misfits and whatnots. It has been disproved however that video games are linked to real life violence but it is graphic to say the least. Why not feature a game internationally where planting bombs as terrorists is a good thing in a terrorist phobic world we live in, good luck selling that.

Then there's the issue of Game balancing, you can't help but wonder how far one would go for your Country, Valve and Blizzard are both American companies. Balancing has always been an issue with Esports, and it is constantly being patched. Could you afford having that in the big stage? Rule changes are rare and methodological in sports, and the ones who decides are international bodies not private gaming companies.

Gambling made easy

#10 It will look boring on screen

Fun as it may be for the players, it will look boring most especially the non players. Not everyone can swim, but it sure is fun to watch, not everyone can relate with specific gaming titles and mechanics, it will take time and the constant shift in the gaming scene may be a lot of getting used to.
Let's face it, you won't get as much respect from other sports. The mere sight of Esports in ESPN would raise most eyebrows from non players and those who cannot relate. It's hard to watch without context and isn't as entertaining. The Olympics won't be the solution for that.

wohoo

I am all for gaming, i really want it to succeed. Perhaps this path isn't the way to do it. The industry is plagued by greedy corporations and personalities as it is, don't let the Government join in on the fray.

All thoughts above are mine, photos sources are linked below

Many thanks for reading! :) kindly resteem if you like it.

PHOTO SOURCES

Photo source of Liquid team
https://compete.kotaku.com/team-liquid-wins-24-million-international-dota-2-tourn-1797787306

Photo source of Esports stadium
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/esports-espn-video-games-sports

Photo source of Game library
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-01-15-meet-the-man-trying-to-finish-all-the-steam-games

Photo source of unhealthy kid gaming
https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/child-brain-development-and-video-games/![Your-childs-brain-on-technology-video-games

Photo source of tired gamer
http://www.gamer-buzz.com/are-you-a-sleep-deprived-gamer/

Photo source of sports
http://www.newcombsc.vic.edu.au/other-opportunities/sport

Photo source Chinese fans
https://esportsobserver.com/wangyudashi-completes-23-million-funding/

Photo source Esports gaming tournament