E-Sports: Paving the Way for Globalization
Many people believe that sports is the only way to unite the world as one. However, a new idea of electronic sports, or also known as “E-Sports” have become a part of modern day culture. Many have come to accept E-Sports as actual sports and these gamers as professional athletes. Although the older generation sees these games as a waste of time, the younger generation sees this as an opportunity to connect globally.
E-Sport games are already well known to most people around the world. These massive multiplayer games such as League of Legends or Starcraft receive substantial support worldwide, whereas the detractors see the games as pitfalls to career success. These popular games hold massive tournaments where professional players of each game are invited in order to play and test their skills against each other. With the acceptance, gamers and fans from all around the world would travel long distances to meet at these tournaments, allowing them to meet and interact with other players and most importantly, compete. Over the years, E-Sports have tremendously grown from simple live streams to huge international tournaments. “The 2014 League of Legends World Championships was watched by over 27 million people,” said ESPN Editor Patrick Dorsey. “This has surpassed the national views on the NBA Finals of 2014 and game 7 of the world series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals.” This shows how the E-Sports community continues to grow and have established itself a stable fanbase. “As the United States move on to accept League of Legends players as athletes has influenced the international Olympic committee to accept many popular eSport games as official Olympic sports” said Riot Games eSports Manager Nick Allen. Previously, South Korea was the only country to approach E-Sports as a legitimate “sport,” but now it can be easily seen that many countries are equally passionate about the games. As such, gaming interests are gaining momentum among millions of people, regardless of their ethnicities. The players and viewers alike - composed of all different nationalities - convene together to promote E-Sports into today’s mainstream culture. As E-Sports continue to grow in popularity, it is also indirectly seen as a path to connect people of all nationalities to join in and work together in order to achieve a common goal. |
BY SEAN SY LEE, JAMES PARK
MINSUNG KIM EDITED BY JON LEE DESIGN BY SEAN JS LEE |