Electronic sports or Esports has seen exponential growth over the past decade. What were initially niche tournaments went on to become a global industry worth billions. In 2023, it reached revenue of nearly £2.8 billion and this number is projected to rise to £4.4 billion by 2028. While many are familiar with how Esports works, they often wonder how the industry is regulated. If this is the case with you, you’re in the right place. This article explores legal and ethical considerations in the world of Esports.
Player Contracts
When playing games online and competing against other players, you never have to reveal your identity. All other players need to know is your username. The same goes for gambling online, as presented in Techreport’s non GAMSTOP casino guide. Now, if you want to play in a real money online casino, you can stay anonymous for as long as you like.
The situation is a bit different when a player wants to compete in Esports. The best players in the world are now treated the same way professional athletes are, and this includes signing a contract with their team.
We’ve all heard about football players moving from one club to another in transfers worth over £100 million. Such moves occur when a player is contracted to their current team, and the buying team has to buy them out. Well, Esports works in the same way, with transfers sometimes reaching over £1 million.
Moreover, there are numerous endorsement and sponsorship contracts made between leagues, teams and individual players. These agreements compose a substantial portion of their income.
In the UK, we’ve even seen the emergence of Esports solicitors, who help professional players position themselves better in this competitive industry. Additionally, they assist them in protecting their intellectual property, such as their gamer tag or logo.
Match-fixing in Esports
Just like in traditional sports, there have been instances of match-fixing in Esports. In 2015, the Korean Esports scene faced a large match-fixing scandal, after several professional StarCraft II players and a coach have deliberately thrown matches. As a result, they’ve received lifetime bans from KeSPA (Korean Esports Association).
This situation raised awareness about vulnerabilities in Esports integrity and opened discussions on the need to regulate these events better. The issue became even more prominent after a similar incident occurred in North America. Namely, members of the iBUYPOWER CS:GO team intentionally lost a match for financial gain.
As the popularity of Esports rises, it has become even more significant to prevent and reduce match-fixing in the industry. To do so, organisations such as Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) began to work with tournament organisers to ensure the integrity of the events.
They’re tracking any suspicious activity in terms of betting, data, and odds, and investigating any issue that emerges. To prevent this from taking place, they also issue bans to players and teams found to be involved in the activity.
Doping in Esports
While doping is usually connected to traditional sports, it became a problem of its own in Esports. As the scene becomes more competitive and the stakes increase, so does the pressure to win.
In 2022, several players have been accused of taking drugs that increase their ability to focus and pay attention. Rise Esports CEO Geison Greff expressed his concerns about a PUBG team Alpha 7 from Brazil taking this route. More accusations have been made against players SonicFox and OG.
However, the key term to pay attention to here is “accused” as none of these players were punished for their actions. Even if any investigation took place, it happened privately. This raised questions about whether there’s enough talk about doping in the world of eSports. Former Call of Duty World Champion Adam KiLLa said that “nobody talks about it because everyone is on it” when questioned about Adderall. A substance that helps people focus.
It’s important to note that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Global Esports Federation (GEF) said last year that they’re working on the problem. Their stance is that they should first develop work on educating players on the dangers of performance-enhancing substances and that testing is something down the road.
Additionally, they said that they’ll also develop a plan around health and wellness for players who spend hours or days behind the screen.
