Mentioned in this article Games: League of Legends

The new year is almost here, and esports has a ton just over the horizon. Here’s some of the biggest unresolved issues facing esports, and why we think they’ll come to a boil in 2016. From player’s rights to serious crimes, here’s the top things we think will surface next year.

Player Salaries

The recent discussion of salaries within esports, particularly centered around the LCS, has many wondering what the future holds for pro esports players. Our analysis? For an industry that partially serves as advertising for other industries that net several billions of dollars of revenue a year, the actual on-screen talent is paid horribly low.

It’s time for players to wake up and realize their worth. As an industry standard, their low pay only results in low motivation, low levels of support, and harm towards future development—especially when you factor in that most pros don’t have college educations.

Luckily, some teams have gone public that they plan on raising the bar when it comes to player salaries. More transparency like this could cause a corrective sweep across the industry.

Violent Content in Gaming

With esports receiving more and more coverage, it’s only a matter of time until mainstream media starts noticing how particularly violent some of our games are. League of Legends is fine and cartoony, but rising esports titles like Counter-Strike are significantly more graphic—and more importantly, seem much more realistic.

These kinds of games are definitely made purposefully real. The realism adds tension and drama, especially when behind the controls. However, lines between violent video games and real life violence have been drawn before, and, like it or not, it’s inevitable that watch dogs start noticing the massive audiences that esports is drawing, especially among underage males.

Player Representation

In line with players’ salaries, there’s also the issue of representation. Many pro players lack even basic representation. And while there are several large organizations aimed at representing players, culture among pros, especially amateurs, is that self or family representation is standard.

This has got to change. Players need actual professionals representing them—agents and lawyers—at all levels. You see this all the time in traditional sports, and there’s a very good reason. The developers and teams that these players are signing with definitely have lawyers writing up their contracts, and the only way to properly counterbalance the contracts then is to have somebody representing the player to read it over before signing.

The alternative, as we are seeing, is contract turmoil farther down the line, when the player realizes what they actually agreed to. These events are increasingly going public, and it’s only a matter of time before one explodes into all-out legal warfare. Of course, this is all preventable if players just get representation as early as possible.

Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is a massive issue facing every digital venture, and that definitely includes esports. Data caps, particularly, could be extensively damaging when it comes to establishing a foothold in the larger entertainment market. Esports can be amazing, streaming in full high definition for hours on end. But for internet providers, that’s a big problem, especially as more and more of their customers are tuning in.

Even more threatening, though, is exclusive provider partnerships that are beginning to pop up. “Fast lanes,” throttling, and “Binge On” are basically all names for the same thing—internet providers flexing their muscle to get the most money for things that they themselves created a limited quantity of. Net neutrality is clearly a big issue with many voices, but the bottom line is that esports needs to make their voice heard on this issue, or it might face unfavorable regulation shoved down its neck.

Underage Gambling

Reddit threads seem to abound about the woes of underage gamblers in esports. Kids steal their mom’s credit cards, and surprise surprise, they’ve lost $10,000. These stories have been circulating increasingly frequently as esports betting has been rising, and it’s just a matter of time until the government starts noticing.

Underage gambling is a really big deal. In the US, especially for online gambling, there are numerous steps aimed at preventing minors from betting. However, with esports’ betting boom, very little attention is being paid when it comes to this kind of regulation. Even worse, there are numerous places where cash-equivalent items can be wagered, such as gun skins. Esports isn’t moving any slower, and underage gambling is a major threat that could throw everything off the rails.