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Sport et e-sport : une comparaison récurrente à déconstruire
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate why do people spectate eSports on the internet. The authors define eSports (electronic sports) as “a form of sports where the primary aspects of the sport are facilitated by electronic systems; the input of players and teams as well as the output of the eSports system are mediated by human-computer interfaces.” In more practical terms, eSports refer to competitive video gaming (broadcasted on the internet).
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs the motivations scale for sports consumption which is one of the most widely applied measurement instruments for sports consumption in general. The questionnaire was designed and pre-tested before distributing to target respondents ( n =888). The reliability and validity of the instrument both met the commonly accepted guidelines. The model was assessed first by examining its measurement model and then the structural model.
Findings
The results indicate that escapism, acquiring knowledge about the games being played, novelty and eSports athlete aggressiveness were found to positively predict eSport spectating frequency.
Originality/value
During recent years, eSports (electronic sports) and video game streaming have become rapidly growing forms of new media in the internet driven by the growing provenance of (online) games and online broadcasting technologies. Today, hundreds of millions of people spectate eSports. The present investigation presents a large study on gratification-related determinants of why people spectate eSports on the internet. Moreover, the study proposes a definition for eSports and further discusses how eSports can be seen as a form of sports.
The comparison between competitive video games and modern sports is regularly subject of debate and especially among the electronic sport community. Using concepts borrowed from the sociology of sport, the paper questions the definition of e-sport through four objective and operational criteria used to define modern sports: the motor skills, the organization of competitions, the regulatory system, and the institutional governing bodies. This analysis, which mainly takes support on the competitive video game League of Legends, aims to enlighten the sportisation process of competitive video gaming.
La comparaison entre jeux vidéo compétitifs et jeux sportifs fait régulièrement débat, et ce notamment auprès des acteurs de la communauté du sport électronique. À l’aide de concepts empruntés à la sociologie du sport, l’article propose de questionner la définition du sport électronique au regard de quatre critères objectifs et opérationnels régulièrement utilisés pour définir le jeu sportif : la pertinence motrice de l’activité, l’organisation de compétitions, le système règlementaire et le dispositif institutionnel. Cette analyse a pour objectif d’apporter un éclairage original sur le phénomène du jeu vidéo compétitif et sur le processus de sportification qui le traverse, à travers l’exemple du jeu vidéo League of Legends.
Competitive computer gaming or eSports is a phenomenon that has become a fundamental element in today's digital youth culture. So far very little effort has been made to study eSports in particular with respect to its potentials to positively influence research developments in other areas. This paper therefore tries to lay a foundation for a proper academic treatment of eSports. It presents a short overview on the history of eSports, provides a definition that is suitable for academic studies on eSports related issues and discusses first approaches to this topic that might lead to results that are applicable to problems in seemingly unrelated fields such as strategic decision making or management training.
In the following article, the author explores the notion of playing computer games as sports by sketching out the labors and sensations of Counter-Strike teams playing at pro/am e-sports local area network (LAN) tournaments. How players are engaged physically in practice and play is described in this qualitative study through the core themes of movement, haptic engagement, and the balanced body. Furthermore, the research describes how technologies in play are laboring actors too; the players and technologies in this study are rendered as networked, extended, and acting in and on the same fields of play. In asking is there a “sport” in e-sports, this study questions the legitimacy of a traditional sports ontology and simultaneously tackles the notion of engagement with computer game play as a legitimate sporting endeavor.