e-Sports as sportive practice in the present time

Authors

  • Cecília Máximo Lemos Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais
  • Douglas Barboza Santos Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas
  • Luísa Canal Rafael Universidade Federal de São Paulo - UNIFESP
  • Vinícius Sanches Ruy Universidade Paulista (UNIP)
  • Rafael Soares Mariano Costa Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais

Keywords:

e-Sports, sports, Olympic Games, games

Abstract

The rise of e-Sports in recent years, noted by tournaments and events with high prize pools, significant audiences, in addition to billion-dollar annual revenues for the gaming industry, has brought with it discussions about its legitimacy as a sport. This debate has been intensifying with the approval, by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), of holding the first e-Sports Olympic Games in Saudi Arabia from 2025. In this sense, the present manuscript aims to analyze e-Sports as a sport practice today, through a bibliographic and qualitative review of pre-selected national and international materials that met the time frame from 2000 to 2024 on the topic. The results found mainly cover a comparison between the characteristics of Olympic sports and e-Sports, both in technical terms and in relation to salaries and prizes, legislation and public acceptance. From this, discussions were brought about the fluid meaning of the term sport, the professionalization of individuals who work in the area, as well as analysis regarding what can or cannot be considered an Olympic sport today, and the possible implications of recognizing e-Sports in the Olympic context, considering its difficulties and opportunities. It is concluded, then, that e-Sports encompass a new phase of sports, and that the possible effects of this recognition can already be observed in practice, with increasing professionalization and job creation, in addition to greater acceptance by the public, organization and great economic impact. However, the need for more studies in the area is highlighted for a better future understanding of the consequences of the legitimization of e-Sports as sports.

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Published

2025-02-04

Issue

Section

Special issue -Esports Olympic Games