Should E-Sports Be Included in the Olympic Games? - Test 6

C1 Advanced · Cross Text Multiple Matching · C1 Advanced Trainer 2, Cambridge University Press

You are going to read four extracts from articles in which experts give their views on whether e-sports (competitive video gaming) should be included in the Olympic Games. For questions 1–4, choose from the experts A–D. The experts may be chosen more than once.

As a keen amateur video games player, I am well aware that e-sports professionals have intensive training programmes and highly developed eye–hand coordination. However, I have never shared the desire of many fellow gamers to have their hobby recognised in the same bracket as such activities as sprinting, gymnastics or weight lifting. They are simply not comparable. I also fully acknowledge that whatever other gamers might say, the most popular e-sports involve eliminating some sort of enemy through use of violence. I’m a big fan of the Street Fighter series, which hasn’t made me want to assassinate random citizens, but I fail to see how it conforms to the Olympic principles of peace and co-operation. I also have serious reservations about the effect that e-sports would have on the ethos and atmosphere of the Olympics. They might well provide a financial boost – which is why, ultimately, they will probably be admitted – but the cost in other ways could be monumental.

What exactly is a sport? Most definitions focus on competition and physical exertion. Many of today’s most popular e-sports are team-based competitions, demanding lightning-quick reflexes and intense concentration. So if rifle shooting deserves to be described as a sport, why not gaming? Those who argue that video games promote violence in a manner that is not in keeping with the Olympic spirit betray a lack of familiarity with video games today. By continuing to exclude e-sports, the Olympic movement forgoes the opportunity to tap into a huge international community and the considerable economic power that comes with it. What’s more, the Olympics have always had to adapt with the times. For example, women were gradually allowed to compete in more and more sports, while mountain-biking became an Olympic discipline in 1996. Hasn’t the time come to change the status of e-sports?

Competitive e-sports constitute a huge and still growing industry. It’s also true to say that e-sports’ reputation for being all about violence is unfair, and their appeal to the Olympic authorities is obvious – it’s the millions of young fans who play the games. But I would argue that the Olympics are already over-sized and too commercial, and any further expansion could be a recipe for disaster. There’s little doubt that pro gamers train for many hours a day – like real elite athletes – and have impressive manual dexterity, but should the Olympics really be favouring a sedentary activity which, in physical terms, does the opposite to what genuine sports do? There are plenty of perfectly good sports which have failed to gain inclusion in the Olympics. Why should a sport which has only been in existence for about 20 years be given priority? Thankfully, the odds against it happening seem very high.

E-sports are an international phenomenon. Audiences pack stadiums to watch teams compete against each other, and the global audience for broadcast e-sports is over 500 million. Even a small fraction of this fan base and associated revenue would be of immense benefit to the Olympic Games, and because of this it appears inevitable that we will see video gaming in the Games in the not too distant future. The objection that e-sports were not part of the Olympic charter, as established in 1894, is spurious. Volleyball and basketball, now major Olympic sports, had not even been invented in 1894. Moreover, the claim that video games are all about fighting and explosions, and that this contravenes Olympic principles, is based on false premises. Many e-sports are violence-free, while some long-standing Olympic sports – boxing, for example – are quite the opposite. As for the assertion that the ‘sports’ part of the name is misleading, there are plenty of activities requiring far less speed and stamina – archery comes to mind – which have long been classed as Olympic sports.

Which expert shares B’s view on whether e-sports can be regarded as true sports?

Which expert has a different view from D on how likely it is that e-sports will be included in the Olympic Games?

Which expert has a different view from the others about whether violence in e-sports should disqualify them from the Olympics?

Which expert shares C’s view regarding the potential impact on the Olympics that inclusion of e-sports would have?

Should e-sports be included in the Olympic Games?

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