Inside the Mind of a Gamer

Wesley Steele, Student Writer

Esports is competitive gaming at a professional level. These games are played often in the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, between professional players. Instead of utilizing a physical space, enthusiasts compete in a virtual space. According to many gamers, “it’s not about being the best,” it’s about being better than you were yesterday.” These gamers are watched and followed by millions of fans all over the world. Video games have become a multimillion-dollar industry, and people are not just playing video games, they are making a living. Companies sign top players and hire them to compete in Esport competitions. 

Corey Nigra is 20 years old and has been playing competitive Esports for 3 years; he loves to compete as a professional gamer. He plays for Washington Justice in the Overwatch League (OWL) based in Washington, D.C. Players start young and retire early, but train rigorously for competition. Several teams of eager competitors arrive embracing the early morning, ready to play and practice. The excitement and energy is intense. A giant scoreboard is projected onto the screen. Players focused on their plays occasionally glance nervously upwards towards the scoreboard, evaluating their place. The goal is to attack and defend. The screen shows a large expansive story as the players, traversing seemingly limitless possibilities, observe the scene in front of them. They slowly move the mouse across the mouse pad knowing exactly where to aim, and then finely adjust as the target advances. His hands are clammy and his movements are quick. Then, sudden excitement appears as he overcomes challenges and obstacles and gains a point. To gain points, a gamer must secure the objective and as many systems as possible, while denying access to the other players. After many hours of intense playing, there is a massive exhale as if all the players have been holding in their breath for many hours. Mental exhaustion can be seen on his face. The team with the most points wins. To Corey Nigra, the glory and recognition is the final reward. 

According to Corey, “I would like to be the best player in my role, I still have a lot of work to do for that, but I definitely have the potential to do it.”  These competitions offer participants a great opportunity to improve their skills, teamwork, time-management, adaptability, and problem-solving skills. Esports tournaments have become a cultural phenomenon and now rival traditional sports with the size of events and scale: the League of Legends World Championships drew more than 80 million viewers, making it one of the most popular Esports competitions ever. In 2018, there were approximately 380 million viewers, and this is expected to increase to 557 million by 2021. Some people call them athletes, others call them gamers, but whatever their title, Esports is growing at a steady pace. Through streaming services like Twitch, or competing in live events many players are eager to learn new techniques and plays to improve their game.