Subtitle: Camillo Eitzen in Norway has experienced a very dynamic last two years, with a major group restructuring, acquisitions and a public share listing. Stephen Matthews reviews the company's progress and strategy.

Raising the stakes

In this paper, I examine the theoretical foundations of esports anti-doping policies. Specifically, I focus on the health- and integrity-related arguments on which esports organizations rely to justify their anti-doping efforts and how the arguments relate to esports organizations’ partnership with energy-drink companies. First, I briefly explain the creation and development of anti-doping policies in esports. Subsequently, I identify the theoretical foundations of such policies. Then, I expound how the commercial partnership between esports organizations and the energy-drink industry may impact esports anti-doping theoretical underpinnings. I conclude by critiquing this partnership. 

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The “big red bull” in the esports room: Anti-doping, esports, and energy drinks

In 2021, the International Olympic Committee ventured virtual space by launching their first ever Olympic Virtual Series – featuring virtual baseball, cycling, rowing, sailing and motor racing. Interestingly, all these virtual events take strongly after their physical counterparts. Which begs the question: Where are the massively popular esports games like Fortnite, League of Legends, and Dota?–What do the Olympic Virtual Series have that these popular video games do not? Here, we argue for the inclusion of esports within the Olympic program. In many respects, esports “act” and “behave” just like traditional sports. We argue that esports and traditional sports share many of the same values, like the values of meritocracy, competition, fair play, and the value of having a “level playing field”. Yet, in esports, many of these values remain underappreciated, losing out to negative values such as physical inactivity and game-addiction. To preserve what is worth preserving, we borrow from Value Sensitive Design to ameliorate the design-tensions that are foregrounded in esports. Thereby, paving possible ways toward the inclusion of esports in the Olympic program. Ultimately, the question for the IOC should not be “does it look like ‘real sport’, as we know it?”, but rather: are they sporting, rule-led, and fair activities worth preserving and setting an example for a new digitally savvy generation?

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“Dear IOC”: Considerations for the Governance, Valuation, and Evaluation of Trends and Developments in eSports

PurposeDespite the advances in theory and practice about player behaviour in esports gaming literature, there is a lack of understanding as to whether esports are compatible with the values of Olympism and if they should be considered for future Games editions. The current study advances this line of research by examining esports player experiences, their effects on perceiving Olympic values, and the support towards the Olympics in order to verify if differences occur according to the cross-cultural environment.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 671 esports amateur gamers from three countries (Portugal, Brazil and Japan), structural equation models and a multigroup analysis were performed to analyse the differences in the hypothesized paths existing between the groups.FindingsResults reveal that player in-game emotional experiences positively influence Olympic values perception across countries. The excellence and friendship values showed a positive effect on support intentions to the Games towards Portuguese and Brazilian players, while the respect value was the strongest predictor towards behavioural intentions in Japan. Cultural backgrounds and game genre in each country can explain player attitude towards the Olympic values shared on the online environment.Originality/valueThis study is able to provide a better understanding of how the Olympic values serve as a gratification in different cross-cultural environments according to the theory of uses and gratifications (U&G) and the theory of cultural dimensions. Complementarily, these findings can be used as valuable information for esports publishers and developers attempting to spread the Olympic values in the esports industry.

Esports and Olympic Games: a cross-cultural exploration of the player support behaviour towards the Olympics

Esports’ rise in popularity has led the Olympic Movement (OM) to consider esports as a possible addition to the Olympic programme. A positive stance on the part of the OM towards certain aspects of...

Cem Abanazir

Papers

Of Values and Commercialisation: An Exploration of Esports’ Place within the Olympic Movement