Even though the esports industry is growing so fast and becoming so big, negative stories create a problem with public perception.
Some media outlets only report on video games when there is bad news to report, such as cheating at a major tournament. Another time the media tends to report about video games is after a shooting. Many people who are against stricter gun control, such as organizations like the NRA, point to video games as something that turns people into violent criminals. The media outlets jump on this bandwagon even though there are studies that relayed little to no link between violent video games and mass shootings; even studies linking aggression to video remains controversial and has never been affirmed by a court.
Another way the media tends to portray video games is as if they are some fantasy world with no hint of reality involved whatsoever. Many people do not understand how people could possibly fall in love with someone while playing video games, or why someone would pay real money for virtual items, and more recently, why intelligence agencies look for terrorists in video games. These headlines downplay the significance of video games as communication platforms.
The media is also uninformed when reporting about esports. A journalist wrote an article about how video games can not be considered art forms and he had admitted to not knowing a lot about video games and not wanting to know much about them. A review of a 60 Minutes report about the rise of gaming in Australia bashed the reporter for not knowing what he was talking about and seeming uninterested throughout the entire interview. The critic claims the report was very unorganized and uneducated.
A major focus within the industry right now is changing public perception. Getting the media to report the good that happens in the industry instead of the negative is a major goal.
Esports has also been in the conversation about TV and the Olympics. Getting esports to be broadcasted on TV would provide the opportunity to reach older demographics. In relation to the Olympics, one of the bigger questions would be which game or games would be played. It is a lot different than including a sport like golf or baseball since no one owns them but since someone owns a video game it would complicate things.
Some within the industry have called for nations to look at esports as a traditional sport. Esports has become very popular in the East in places like South Korea and China. So far 21 countries have recognized competitive gaming as a sport.
In the United Kingdom specifically, the panel that decides what can not make esports a sport due to an old law from the 1930s that keeps other games such as chess classified as culture instead of sport.
Getting esports recognized as sport would make the process of players traveling and getting visas for tournaments a lot easier. Players have to travel the world for tournaments and if esports were recognized by countries as a sport, it would make it equivalent to how soccer teams travel around for different games.
Stereotypes are another problem within the industry and how it is perceived. A huge stereotype within esports is that gamers are all out of shape, live in their parents basement, unable to get a real job, and more. These stereotypes are proving to be wrong in the current age of gaming.
Many esports players are in their teens to mid twenties and in good shape. Esports organizations also put in place programs to keep their players in shape by living in a gaming house to ensure the players are getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, and even have a chef to ensure they are meeting their nutritional needs.
The public perception of esports is getting better, but there still is a lot of work to be done.
Sources:
Batchelor, James. “We Need to Reverse the Way the Media Thinks About eSports.”
Gameindustry.biz. Published January 10, 2017. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-01-10-we-need-to-reverse-the-way-the-media-thinks-about-esports.
Bradley, Adam. “How the Media Consistently Gets Games Wrong.” Huffington Post. Published
March 11, 2014. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/video-games-media_b_4572231.
Ryan, Jackson W. “Mainstream Media Still Don’t Quite Get Video Games.” Cube. Published
June 12, 2017. https://medium.com/the-cube/mainstream-media-still-dont-quite-get-video-games-cc33c13626f1.
Stuart, Keith. “Video Games and Art: Why Does the Media Get it so Wrong?” The Guardian.
Published January 8, 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2014/jan/08/video-games-art-and-the-shock-of-the-new.