The e-sports manifesto - What is e-sports anyway?

The e-sports manifesto – Our vision of e-sports beyond the 'industry'

Part 1: What is e-sports anyway?

No matter what you do, you'll hurt it in the end: E-sports. A word very broadly used in today's internet and gaming community and a word, that may invoke different interpretations, depending on who you are asking.

Different interpretations themselves are not that big of a problem. It may lead to confusion, but there is no malicious intent behind that. The thing that really concerns me ist that the term „e-sports“ seems to carry a meaning today, that signifies commercialization. As if that meaning would be inherent to the term „e-sports“ itself. I very much refuse this interpretation.

As foreshadowed in our prologue, we (as in: the TaKeTV team) would like to share our vision of e-sports, because we are honestly convinced, that e-sports can grow and flourish, without losing its heart. We don't want „e-sports“ to become a product, mere investment material.

To clarify our point and to enable a fruitful dicussion, I will try to narrow down our (!) definition of e-sports.

Doing sports is just so last century (and too mainstream)

- I just made that up

My grandfather once told me about a time long long ago. A time when the internet didn't exist and when computers were unknown to most of the earth's population. „What a dark age“, I said, „how did you have fun without computers?“ „Well, in our free time, we went outside and played.“, he answered. „You mean like... doing e-sports... without computers?“, I eagerly asked.

And with a nostalgic tone he said: „Yes. Back then, we called it 'sports'.“

Fortunately, our generation is exempt from those troubling rites. We don't have to leave our rooms to have fun, thank God! But if you look closely, the nature of sports and e-sports is basically the same (as the name suggests, duh!). You just have to look at the core idea of both of them, which is competetiveness.

Of course, for many people, sports is just a way to keep their bodies fit and healthy. This aspect is completely lacking in e-sports (no, improving your „hand-eye-coordination“ does not count). While this healthy aspect of sports may be important for amateurs, its impact is completely neglectable at a professional level.

What I want to focus on is the facet, that is the driving factor behind professional sports: Competition, competetiveness. It's about being better than your opponent. Faster, higher, further. Claiming the top. Becoming the very best (like no one ever was).

"Higher"

In my opinion, this is also what the bare term „e-sports“ represents. What does e-sports derive from? Simple: Electronic sports. Nowadays you don't kick a ball, you press a button, so that a digital image resembling a player kicks a ball. The devices and means have changed, the idea, however, has not. E-sports thrives because of the same underlying idea, the same competetive spirit. Not more not less. How come, people automatically associate commercialization with e-sports? I think this a very interesting question.

Stop it, mang, you are hurting e-sports!

- Arturo Sanchez

The phrase „hurting e-sports“ seems to have become very popular lately. It has, indeed, become so overused, and the situations where to use it appropriately and sensibly have become so arbitrary, that it even became a running gag for some, especially in the fighting game community.

What it implies is that there is some kind of e-sports „entity“, that can be hurt by seeming malicious actions. At first glance, with the definition of e-sports we just established in mind, this does not make any sense whatsoever. The competetive spirit of wanting to become better than someone at a given game, the devotion of the players, of the whole community, how can it be „hurt“?

What could the phrase even mean?

Hurting e-sports - Brood War fan edition

It's really not that hard and most of you should probably get it straight away. Nonetheless, I think it's good to reflect on this, because the development is worrying in my opinion.

Given the surge of sponsors and people interested in gaming or said „e-sports“ in the past few years, the scene as a whole has dramatically changed. Suddenly, people make serious money off of e-sports. Money, in turn, attracts more money and before you know it, CBS buys the whole thing.

This development, in my understanding, coined the phrase „e-sports“ for many or at least some people. They primarily see the commercial aspect. This could be explained by the fact, that the umbrella term e-sports wasn't very popular at the time, when people just played for fun, for the sheer heck of it, without any commercial intentions and without even seeing themselves as a part of a broader scene.

Why is this development worrying? If we immediately associate commercializing with electronic sports, we create an illusion. An illusion that electronic sports would suddenly die, if the whole commercial aspect would disappear. This is not the case:

As long as there are people interested in the game, as long as there are players and fans, there will be e-sports. Even when the bubble collapses. Even when every sponsor announces their withdrawal. There will always be people playing games. There will always be people who want to become the best. And there will always be people wanting to watch those people play. Thus, e-sports will never die.

If you want to experience the pure essence of e-sports, bare of any sponsors, far away from public recognition, forever locked in obscure back rooms, and yet flourishing like a beautiful blossom, let me give you a truly inspiring example:

The example stems from the fighting game community, which is itself a very very interesting subject to talk about, which will be appropriately covered in a future episode. For now, I will just give you a simple example from Japan. The equivalent of what Korea is to the Starcraft community.

There are countless examples of course, but this one amazes me the most (and it is about Hokuto no Ken! (TL note: „Hokuto no Ken“ means „Fist of the North Star“)). When Arc System Works released the Hokuto no Ken fighting game, it was well received by fans, who applauded the atmosphere, which conserves very well the feeling of the series. The game itself, though, is a mess. Completely broken. It had its moments in the limelight, when it was played in Japan's biggest tournament, the Tougeki, two times, but after that it vanished in the flood of new games that emerged since then.

Manly. As. Fuck.

No one will ever sponsor a HnK player. No big HnK tournament will ever be hosted. No event hall will ever be filled with people thrilled to watch the HnK game. Even though, a few selected individuals still play the game. All that drives them is their unbroken will. Their love for the game and their aspiration to become the best. They indulge in their tiny community, which consists entirely of people of their own kind. Completely secluded from the rest of the e-sports world.

Watch what they managed to accomplish. It's impossible to really grasp it when you have no idea about the game. But just let it sink in, try to think about all the actions that these guys have to do:

The amount of devotion and of training required to pull off the stunts these guys show is insane. Will they ever be featured on a stream with tens of thousands of people watching? No. Will they ever live off their hobby? No. Will there even be anyone who will recognize their skill and their devotion? Only very few. It doesn't matter to them. They just play.

We, the Starcraft 2 community, are in a very very very fortunate situation. We have the coverage and the sponsors. But does that alone make e-sports?

We should never forget what is the true heart of e-sports!

Again, this entry is more of a clarification. Now that we established our interpretation of „e-sports“, misunderstandings should be avoided.

But again, we could find some underlying problems with the concept of e-sports today. It is our deepest desire to name them, to question them, to reflect on them. Because the worst that could happen is that e-sports loses its soul in the process of professionalization.

Prepare for next week, we have much more in stock for you!

Cheers!
Lotsa_Spaghetti, editor of TaKeTV

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