Are esports becoming mainstream? If so, for whom?
Tags: Politics, Gaming, Esport

Rekkles, one of the most famous European League of Legends champions, will play in the French league with Karmine Corp, the team that monopolized the francophone fanbase over the whole 2021. To the point of earning praise from President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who congratulated the team for their EU Masters victory.

Praises that were mimicked by Vladimir Putin, when last October the five young Russian players of Team Spirit lifted the Aegis, Dota2’s most prestigious international tournament, along with an 18 million dollars prize.

Chinese politics has kept an eye on such events: the CCP has requested Clearlove, one of the most iconic and decorated players in the country, to join the Party after his team Edward Gaming claimed first place in the League of Legends World Championship this November.

Even in Italy, our national TV had a segment on Milan’s live finals of Circuito Tormenta: “Not just videogames, but real champions”, said the interviewer in front of a lit stage. Quite the difference from the usual broadcasted narrative concerning the lazy young generations.

So it might look like this 2021 has finally awakened the media’s and politics’ interest towards the esport phenomenon, bringing the industry closer to that much invoked (even demanded, at times) popularization that the fans had always longed for, among basket and football comparisons. Have we then “won”? Have the gamers managed to make their passions accepted by the greater society, after years of paternalism by parents and institutions alike?

The first signals of this tendency to acknowledgement started a few years ago, when the so-called “non-endemic” sponsors (which means outside the tech or gaming industry) decided to invest in major competitions. That was when we got joined by Shell, insurance companies, food delivery companies, automotive companies and even financial and crypto-based companies, after the much discussed NFTs boomed into popularity this spring. If worldwide brands decided to invest in this sector, it’s because they see a chance to flourish and thrive; that was (or actually is) the consensus among the most passionate fans of virtual competitions.

The most alert readers have probably already spotted the target audience outlined by this list of sponsors: a young adult, preferably male and well-off, who can afford to order takeaway food daily, who is getting closer to independence and is trying to prepare his future in the best way possible through material (or immaterial, if they prefer a .png) long-term investments. This generally mirrors the average esport fan in various places across the world: middle class high school or university students with enough free time to dedicate to constantly consume these competitive events. I include myself in this description: my passion for esports began at the end of high school and it still persists a decade later through various stages of my university life.

This wave of economic investments has not, however, left a dent in the usual general opinion. Elders and parents have never been welcoming towards such digital trends, after all. They’re regarded as a harmful pasttime, a deranged copy of traditional sports, a degenerate and futile toy. Yet, politics is noticing, and with it the media that shape their public image. What happened?

Numbers did their magic, at least partially. With the industry’s growing popularity, it became reasonable for the various political figures to try and attract consensus from that slice of younger citizens that, having lived on the internet for the better part of many quarantines, knows much more than just about France, Russia, China and South Korea. A handshake towards tomorrow’s middle class made of engineers, computer scientists and economists which is under formation in these very years.

Surely this is not some elaborate conspiracy: I doubt this is a coordinated effort by the various governments and even less likely that world leaders gathered around G7’s table to discuss League of Legends (please end me the moment that happens). It is, however, the umpteenth instance of politics trying to ride along a digital phenomenon living mostly on social media, just like it happened many times with influencers being coopted or obstacled (especially in less permissive/more surveilled environments such as Russia or China).

While I don’t think society acknowledging esports is a downside per se, the other side of the spectrum is a welcome into the mainstream that looks more like a wink to a part of the younger generations without actually providing answers to the more pressing issues brought forward by Millennials and Zoomers: social inequality, sense of inadequacy, lack of future prospects and ultimately the climate crisis.

Will we then be the digital revolution that we’ve always shouted about, surpassing the outdated sports’ traditions and television models, or will be become another loaf on the table of panem et circensem, another distraction by politics and for politics, regardless of their faction?