Ever since huge games like League of Legends, Counter Strike: Global Offensive and DotA 2 have surfaced and have started to pull in huge numbers for their tournaments, a lot of people have started to consider them actual sports because the amount of viewers that they get actually surpass the numbers that a lot of regular sports get. League of Legends actually had 43 million unique viewers and over 14.5 million concurrent viewers for its last world championship and these are definitely staggering numbers that were once considered impossible for games.

The most common argument that people make on this subject is that sports are supposed to have physical exertion but this argument is, in all honesty, not that viable because chess is considered a real sport and there’s no real physical exertion involved in playing chess. In fact, you probably do more physically when playing video games then you do while playing chess due to all the hand eye coordination and motor skills that are required to play said games. For example, professional StarCraft players can perform hundreds of actions in a single minute during a match and this takes is something that takes an incredible amount of mastery to pull off. The amount of focus required when playing competitive games is also just as much, if not more, than the amount of focus required to play games like chess properly.

Perhaps the most obvious piece of evidence that proves eSports are real sports is the fact that the US Federal Government actually recognizes eSports players as professional athletes right now. Ever since 2013, professional gamers have gotten a P1 VISA for their stay and this is the same VISA that professional Athletes who play traditional sports get. On top of this, there’s also talk that certain popular eSports might just end up being a part of Olympic Games in the future so, even though people might doubt this idea right now, a lot of minds are sure to be changed in the coming years.

The lives of eSports players are also quite similar to the lives of many professional athletes. These people live alongside their teammates and have rigorous training schedules that are important if they want to stay on top of their game. Some of the most dedicated players actually spend up to twelve hours a day practicing their skills and this is way more than the amount of time that traditional athletes spend practicing in a day.

All things considered, arguments can be made for both sides of the subject but, as of right now, eSports are definitely on an upward swing and a lot of people have started considering them actual sports. We’re definitely excited to see what the next few years hold for eSports because they’re seeing an insane amount of growth with each passing day.