SHOULD MOBA VIDEO GAMES BE CONSIDERED AS SPORTS?

SHOULD MOBA VIDEO GAMES BE CONSIDERED AS SPORTS?

Violence and addiction have been always the spotlight issues that are debated all around the
world about video games. Nevertheless, there is a topic which has not generated the enough
controversy to be debated, which is the capacity of MMORPG (acronym for massively multiplayer
online role-playing game) to be classified as a serious sport and the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle
Arena) tournaments as global recognized championships. The sport-like logistic organization; the
extreme training, necessary to become a pro-gamer; and mental and physical demands are arguments
enough to estate that. Three games have stand out of the crowd on these aspects: League of legends (or
simply LOL), Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) and Smite.
Just to start, MOBA professional teams have their own leagues and a World Championship,
sponsored by companies such as Red Bull, Logitech or Nvidia, and winning from $5000 to $1.1
million, both from victories and sponsoring (The Game Theorists, 2015) (Of course, only the best of
the best obtain these kind of deals). There is no any (or a little) difference in the way the European
Soccer Champions League or the NBA work. And to go beyond that comparison, the 2014 DOTA
world championship has been transmitted by ESPN itself. However, becoming a professional in
MOBA is not an easy task. For instance the players on Team Liquid (a professional LOL team)
practice for a minimum of 50 hours per week and most play the game far more (Jacobs, 2015). This
extreme training produces two changes in the players. On the one hand, a social one, where they have
to know the capabilities of each member of their team, and work according to that (in other words,
form a team as precise as a clock). On the other hand, an organic one, where players reflexes
(especially hand-eye coordination) are enhanced, to the extreme that the brain is physically modified
(Nuwer, 2014). Obviously, teamwork development and skills enhancement are crucial when talking
about a tip-top performance in sports.
This debate about fitting MOBA in the sports category is not new. Chess has faced almost the
same inconvenients, until its official recognition as sport by the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) in the 1920s (Pruitt, 2012). Additionally, the FIDE (Fdration Internationale des checs or
World Chess Federation) has been legally recognized and officially listed by the ARISF (Association

SHOULD MOBA VIDEO GAMES BE CONSIDERED AS SPORTS?

of the IOC Recognized International Sports Federations) and the official website of the Olympics. To
achieve this, the FIDE had to fulfill certain criteria: being a non-governmental governing body for a
given sport; administer its sport at a world level with international rules; promote the sport to
prospective spectators and fans; develop prospective players; organize and run continental and world
championships tournaments and matches; and finally, have the right to name the undisputed World
Champion (Chess is, 2015). Nowadays, even is being discussed if chess can make its way into the
Olympics (Pein, 2015). With some organization (creating a governing body) MOBA tournaments
can easily accomplish the same exact requisites.
Nevertheless, parallelisms between chess and MOBA (as e-sports) do not stop there.
According to Oxford dictionary, a sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which
an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment (Sport, n.d). It is above
any doubt the competitive nature of chess and e-sports, and both need certain skills, indeed, but the
lack of physical movement involved on them is the main source of criticism. Fans of traditional sports
argue that to play chess or video games, you just sit on your chair barely moving your arms or hands;
basically, you are doing nothing. There is where fans and definitions fail: using intensively your mind
is as demanding for your body as kicking a ball or lifting a weight. On 1984-1985 World chess
Championship, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov starred a six-month-long match that was canceled
due to the health problems both adversaries had; in fact, Karpov lost 10 kilos just as a result of the
match. Additionally, most of chess players are retired before their 40s (Gil-Vernet, 2014). The same
can be said about e-sports and MOBA; as well as in chess, strategy is primordial and stress is an
everyday ingredient, especially during their hours-long tournaments. For that reason most of the top
players decide to hung up their controllers before 30 (DiCristopher, 2014). In addition, it is now
widely accepted that a fitter body equates to a fitter mind, so many top players make sure they eat
healthily and exercise regularly(Dirs, n.d, Fitness section, para. 3), so the conception of gamers as
sedentary people cannot be applied to most of pro gamers.
MOBA tournaments have a long way before being considered a proper sport. Whether you
look at players or tournaments, some misconceptions about gamers and what an athlete is must be
overcome. Of course, people who look at videogames as a simple entertainment are not mistaken, but

SHOULD MOBA VIDEO GAMES BE CONSIDERED AS SPORTS?

they see only a part of the spectrum: the excessively easy approach; it is not hard to judge someone
from the convenient position given by stereotypes. Nonetheless, they need to face the facts and
evidences; only then e-sports will have the recognizement they deserve, and MOBAs the respect as
the mental and physically demanding activity that they are.

SHOULD MOBA VIDEO GAMES BE CONSIDERED AS SPORTS?

REFERENCES

Dirs, B. (n.d.). Is computer gaming really sport?. BBC. Retrieved October 7, 2015, from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zygq2hv#z9qsyrd
DiCristopher, T. (2014, February 3). Pro gamers story: Get big, burn out, retire young. CNBC.
Retrieved from http://www.cnbc.com/2014/02/01/pro-gamers-story-get-big-burn-out-retireyoung.html
Chess is an Official Sport. (2015). Retrieved October 6, 2015, from
http://www.chesssport.com/about/sport.html
Gil-Vernet, P. (2014, December 2). Krpov VS Kasprov: La Mayor Rivalidad De Todos Los Tiempos.
Cdigo Nuevo. Retrieved from http://codigonuevo.com/karpov-vs-kasparov-la-mayorrivalidad-de-todos-los-tiempos/
Jacobs, H. (2015, May 11). Here's the insane training schedule of a 20-something professional gamer.
Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/pro-gamers-explain-theinsane-training-regimen-they-use-to-stay-on-top-2015-5
Nuwer, R. (2014, April 8). Playing Video Games Could Actually Change Your BrainBut Not in a
Bad Way. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/playing-video-games-could-actually-change-your-brain-not-bad-way-180950453/?no-ist
Pein, M. (2015, June 16). Chess at the Olympics?. The Telegraph. Retrieved from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/chess/11677916/Chess-at-the-Olympics.html
Pruitt, S. (2012, August 7). 5 Sports That Havent Made It Into the Olympics (Yet). History. Retrieved
from http://www.history.com/news/5-sports-that-havent-made-it-into-the-olympics-yet
Oxford Dictionaries. Sport. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition
/english/sport
The Game Theorists (2015, July 17). Why ESPN is WRONG about eSports [video file]. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYlpxFWXCM8