By Dreamer IX at Thursday, March 20, 2014 9:46:00 AM

eSports is a scene that has come a mighty long way. You look up any of the major titles that live and breathe esports, such as League of Legends (LoL), Starcraft, Counter Strike and others, and you will find the theme is the same. Phrases like “record numbers” and “growing trend” appear constantly.

Competitive players went from playing at a friend’s house to playing in stadiums. Press clamour to get interviews with star performers and the players revel in chants from the crowd. The flashing lights and smiling faces are wonderful to behold for a scene that still struggles to gain mainstream acceptance, but not everything is as glamorous as it seems. eSports is not without its growing pains.

The latest story to shock the esports community is the attempted suicide of a Korean LoL pro player, Cheon “Promise” Min-ki. The stress of a manager forcing him and his teammates to engage in illegal match fixing, amongst other things, was too much for him to handle. If you dig a little deeper, you will find other stories, not just from LoL, of cases where pro players get tripped up. The fame, the public scrutiny, bad managers, organisation betrayals and more, reveal that there is a darker, less glimmering side to esports.

Why is esports so dangerous?

Traditional sports, often the benchmark for esports, also struggles with this unflattering side, however with esports, it is different. For one thing, the age of pro players is significantly younger than those of traditional athletes. The majority of pro players are in their early twenties or younger and this has a huge impact on the way the scene is run. Firstly, they don’t know better. Kelby, the manager of LoL pro team, Counter Logic Gaming explains it this way:

“Generally speaking, pro LoL players and budding pro athletes are young and have little to no business education, let alone professional work experience. How can they be expected to properly evaluate who should run their teams/companies?”

The fact that pro players are so young only makes the dangers of esports more dire. Futures can be completely destroyed and young lives wrecked. You might argue that due to their youth, rebuilding is easier as they have more time or parents to help them out, but often the damage is long lasting and many lack the mental fortitude or knowledge to understand what to do or how to recover. Many don’t look past their short-lived esports careers or take into account how crippling delayed education can be.

Another factor that exacerbates the situation is one that mirrors the problem of players. The fact that the scene itself is still relatively young. This means that there is no precedent set in terms of what is correct and what isn’t. Things have to be figured out the hard way and often that leaves the players with the short end of the stick. Its young age also means that the necessary expertise in terms of creating the right infrastructure isn’t there, at least not enough. The scene is still trying to figure its way out and its identity. It’s a complicated affair.

Coming up with a solution isn't easy

The short-lived nature of esports makes finding solutions all the more difficult. By “short-lived”, I am referring to the careers of pro players. There is a reason why the average age is so low, that is because very few stay in the scene, at least competitively, for more than a handful of years. eSports is highly competitive and with so many kids dreaming of playing in giant arenas, there is never a shortage of challengers to the throne.

So what are possible ways going forward to prevent further pro players from suffering avoidable harm? There have been many calls from fans and players alike for players to form a union of some kind. In theory, a players’ union would be great. There is safety in numbers and having players stick together means the power shifts more in their favour, allowing for more fair negotiations and deals for them.

However, Emily Gera wrote a great article explaining why a players’ union won’t work that well in esports. In traditional sports, players gave up a year or two just to get the ball rolling for a players association. In esports, players just don’t have that kind of time to give up, or at the very least, aren’t willing to sacrifice so much.

Another argument against a players’ unions is the fact that the industry is too small to require or support one. The costs and efforts necessary to set one up wouldn’t justify the means. In traditional sports, player unions negotiate on profits for advertising and associations like the NBA have to deal with teams as teams are the ones who own the stadiums matches are played in. eSports isn’t set up in that way and the amount of money in the industry is too low to warrant a meaningful a players’ union.

Whilst the concept of a players’ union seems difficult and unlikely, one course of action I think can and should be taken is bringing in experts in the relevant fields. By that, I mean bring in lawyers that specialise in sports, individuals with experience and knowledge in traditional sporting institutions (such as FIFA, NBA, NFL etc.) and learn from them.

Gaming companies and leading figures in the esports scene need to get together and with the help of these experts, set industry standards and a framework that can be worked on. Of course there will be differences in the way things operate amongst some games, but if everyone can work together to create a unified direction and approach to creating a safe and solid infrastructure, the players will benefit in the end.

The long road ahead

Whether it’s a players’ union or setting an industry standard, combating the dangers of esports will require a unified effort. Fans love to bash rival games and create competition, but if we want esports to succeed without leaving a trail of digital corpses in its wake, we need everyone to work together. It’s easier said than done, but for the sake of the players, fans and the scene, it needs to be accomplished.

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