Stress: e-sport players in the same boat as athletes

If you thought being a professional video game player was easy, think again. In a recent study published in theInternational Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations, and conducted by researchers from the University of Chichester (UK), esports players competing in major tournaments are under as much pressure and stress as professional athletes. In the study, which is the first of its kind, scientists conducted psychological tests on players participating in elite sports competitions, and found that the players exhibited 51 stressors equivalent to those faced professional athletes.

For their research, the team interviewed professional esports players who train on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a highly technical and demanding first-person shooter. The team discovered that competitors face communication issues and feel pressured when it comes to playing a live competition in front of an audience, as experienced by professional athletes, whether footballers or athletes. rugby players in major competitions.

The pressure of major competitions

According to Dr Phil Birch, lecturer in sport and exercise psychology at the University of Chichester and co-author of the study, “esports has become a multi-million dollar business that attracts a global audience, but there is little research on the psychological factors that influence gamers. We discovered that players are exposed to significant stress when participating in high-level competitions. By isolating these stressors, we can help these professional players develop effective coping strategies to deal with these stressors and optimize their performance while playing at the highest level.”

Researchers have found that a high level of stress during a sports tournament leads to poor communication between teammates, especially in a pressured environment. “To deal with such a situation, participants become very aggressive towards each other or try to avoid communication, which obviously has negative consequences on their performance,” says Phil Birch.

Resist pressure like sportsmen

Based on this study, the researchers recommend that players receive psychological training to help them understand techniques that can be useful to them when facing competitive pressure in tournament play. According to Rob Black, chief operating officer at ESL, the world’s largest sports company, “stressors can negatively impact player performance and this latest study proves it.” According to him, more research is needed in this area to ensure that the number of professional gamers continues to grow around the world.

Rams Singh, himself a former European esports champion, agrees: “Esports is a developing field, but it is essential that it remains rooted in traditional academia, in order to help us understand the immersion in the game and understand its consequences on the body and the mind. This study is important for the whole industry. We need to understand how we can best preserve the health of our players and keep them at the highest level, like any other professional athlete.”