Esports doping may become a hot-button issue (Image: David Fisher/Rex)

With millions of dollars at stake and tens of thousands of fans watching your every move, the pressure to perform as a professional video-gamer, or esports player, can be huge. And so can the temptation to dope.

On 4 August, Bjoern Franzen – a consultant and marketer formerly with one of the world’s largest esports companies – publicly declared that doping in esports is rampant. In a lengthy blog post, Franzen wrote that gaming firms and the media are turning a blind eye to the substance use right under their noses.

“I have seen players pop a pill even an hour before important games either to calm them down or push themselves,” he told New Scientist.


Some prominent esports leagues have already banned such substances. Nonetheless, Franzen says he’s seen players take a host of drugs, including: Ritalin, which improves concentration; the beta-blocker propranolol, which blocks the effects of adrenaline and helps players stay calm under pressure; and selegiline, a drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease that is claimed to improve mood and motivation during tournaments.

Alexander Müller, Managing Director at German esports giant SK Gaming, says the company strictly forbids any doping, and has never had to deal with it among their players. “We establish close to very close relationships with our players,” he wrote in an email to New Scientist. “Drugs have never been a factor in our history with players whatsoever.”

Many pseudonymous comments on Reddit.com indicate that neuro-enhanced gaming is real, however. For example: “I know a few friends that made huge climbs from snorting ritalin between games. Since then, I’ve always wondered if doping posed an issue to esport organizers,” wrote user Tooky17.

Playing with fire

As with blood doping in cycling, one of the main benefits of doping in esports is allowing players to train longer and harder. Often, the required enhancement at game time is more about calming down.

Brandon Harris, a law student and gamer at the University of New Hampshire who writes on legal issues in esports, says it is common to see a range of stimulants used during competitions. “And if you’re using a broad definition of doping – i.e. ‘taking any substance in an attempt to improve gameplay’ – the use would be extremely widespread. Caffeine, energy drinks, ginseng supplements, all sorts of over-the-counter stuff is heavily and excessively used.”

Harris says that in his experience professional gamers shy away from using illegal drugs, but he has encountered the use of medication usually prescribed for ADHD or depression to gain an edge.

“The real danger here is the temptation to escalate,” says Brendon Boot, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Players may end up on ever higher doses, using the drugs in risky ways such as snorting or injecting them, or mixing them.

“For example, taking selegiline with an antidepressant can lead to something called serotonin syndrome: headache, confusion, hyperthermia, muscle spasms, tremors and sometimes death,” says Boot. “These guys are playing with fire.”

Read more: “Esports: Video games jump from couch to stadium“