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Reasons why eSports is the future of all sports
The future of all sports is eSports. That may sound like a bold statement, but there is growing evidence to support it.
Today’s spectators and participants expect to be digitally engaged while they watch. And the most effective way to deliver digital engagement is through “gamification” — the transformation of watching into playing.
While the “real” sports world is still far more significant than the competitive eSports community, eSports is showing supporters a new kind of future. In this future, experiences make the most of fans’ desire for interactivity within their leisure experiences. Today’s consumer does not just want to watch or listen. They also want to participate — and eSports integrates these principles into people’s leisure time.
The latest transformation that is bringing these two worlds even closer together is the creation of new virtual reality gaming experiences, which turn eSports into physically active experiences.
Virtual reality may be the technology that unites the two worlds of sports and eSports, otherwise struggling to find common ground.
While it may take some years to realise the impact of eSports, the rise of mobile and virtual reality gaming combine to make a tantalising prospect on which to imagine its future.
The VR Olympics?
Rumours are that the International Olympic Committee is interested in virtual reality as a possible route for eSports inclusion within the Olympic programme.
Alternatively, conventional sports stadia and fields of play may be re-imagined in virtual arenas designed to maximise excitement.
For example, tomorrow’s tennis stars could be playing on VR courts where they can move in three dimensions rather than two. This could be made possible with three-dimensional, full-body virtual reality systems where you can feel and truly experience the world by wearing an exo-suit to simulate the virtual environment.
Meanwhile, talks continue to take place concerning the Paris 2024 Olympic Games programme, which will likely follow its two predecessors and have some eSports events. And in 2019, the European Games included eSports within its cultural programme rather than the sports programme.
It is worth remembering that medals were given for cultural achievements in the early decades of the modern Olympic Games. The original vision was to celebrate sport blended with culture and education, values still enshrined in the Olympic Charter.
So, before we conclude the conversation about the relationship between eSports and traditional sports, we should remember that today’s eSports may be analogous to the silent film era from 100 years ago. There’s a great deal of technological evolution still to come, and eSports are still in the process of being established.
