Rob Pardo, the former chief creative officer at prominent game developer Blizzard, has recently disclosed his thoughts on the notion of including eSports in the Olympics during a BBC interview.
As a preface, there is a longstanding debate in both the gaming and athletic communities regarding the argument of whether or not playing video games professionally can be considered an actual sport. The notion has become even more heated due to the increasing popularity of eSports as of late.
Some individuals, including John Skipper, the president of ESPN, believe that eSports cannot be considered an actual sport, but rather a competition – stating the following on the matter:
“It’s not a sport — it’s a competition. Chess is a competition. Checkers is a competition.“
Others, such as the aforementioned Rob Pardo, believe there is a legitimate case to be made for eSports to be considered actual athletic events – culminating in his idea that Olympic eSports are a definite possibility.
Read more on what Pardo had to say about eSports after the break.
Olympic eSports: A Legitimate Possibility
Pardo stated the following regarding the possibility of including eSports in future Olympic events:
“There’s a very good argument for e-sports being in the Olympics. I think the way that you look at eSports is that it’s a very competitive skillset and you look at these professional gamers and the reflexes are lightning quick and they’re having to make very quick decisions on the fly.“
Granted, Pardo also acknowledged the fact that the actual process of getting eSports into, or even considered to be implemented in, the Olympics would be a long, hard road – due to a number of factors (including how “sport” is actually defined) – to which he said:
“If you want to define sport as something that takes a lot of physical exertion, then it’s hard to argue that video games should be a sport, but at the same time, when I’m looking at things that are already in the Olympics, I start questioning the definition.”
What are your thoughts on Pardo’s statements? Do you believe that eSports should be including in the Olympics? Do you consider eSports to be an actual sport? Why or why not?
Let us know in the comments section below! As always, stay tuned to Gamer Headlines for the latest in video game and technology news.