Gen.G draws attention to player health with new campaign

Esports are all about performance. Better, faster, stronger and more more more are what it’s all about – sadly, that often leaves the humans behind the screens in a bad place. With things like doping and performance enhancement substances widely in use, it’s no surprise that being an esports pro can have a huge negative health impact.

This has been known for a while of course, and some measures to alleviate it have happened – for example, between the first and second season of Overwatch, Blizzard added more teams and spread out the schedule more, to allow players some much needed rest.

Despite this, between travel, training and competition, being a pro gamer can be downright brutal. Since it is extremely important for gamers to stay healthy while gaming, Gen.G now aims to set a positive example when it comes to this issue – they are introducing a player wellness campaign for which they partnered with LA Fitness and Simple Habit.

Through this partnership, Gen.G players will have access to additional health resources – both physical and mental – in order to ensure their well-being in competitions and out of them. The initiative wants to focus on healthy habits in the esports world – financial responsibility, mental healthcare and physical fitness, all rolled into one. The two partners are an international gym chain and a wellness app – and they will give players access to resources outside of the gaming world in order to better support them.

“Maintaining a high level of gaming skill can be both physically and mentally demanding. We want our players and fans to be well rounded in all aspects of life. Through this Wellness campaign, our goal is to develop a healthier generation of gamers and instill a mindset of self- improvement.” said Martin Kim, the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Gen.G Esports.

Gen.G is one of the highest-performing esports teams in the world, and also has experience in traditional sports – this includes the NBA, MLB and FIFA. In an industry that sadly often neglects player needs in favour of performance, it’s high time that the same attention be paid to it that is already standard in traditional sports.

This isn’t actually the first effort in this area that Gen.G has made – earlier this year, in the esports news you could read about them opening a brand-new LA HQ in Playa Vista, mere months after opening yet another one in Seoul, South Korea. Both of them feature large cafeterias with healthy options, resting and sleeping pods, and an all-access gym membership pass with LA Fitness, including access to physical therapy sessions and personal trainers for players and some other employees.

LA Fitness will be creating materials especially designed for gamers, focusing on simple ways gamers can stay fit at home and avoid certain health risks or injuries. Lack of sleep and mentally burning out are among the most common issues for gamers, which is where Simple Habit comes in – the app will launch a curriculum focusing on points of stress for gamers, streamers and similar content creators – this will also include a section on financial responsibility, something a lot of young people who suddenly gain access to large sums of money struggle with.