They say that change is the only constant and with the world in lockdown, everything has changed. Sporting leagues are announcing cancellations of either events or even the whole sporting season day by day, and with the world of sport facing an uncertain future, the influence of Esports in our world has never been clearer to see. While sports events are being cancelled, Esports events are being announced.
For example, with Formula 1 unable to hold races in actual life, they have turned to the virtual world instead, and now, the Formula 1 Virtual GP series provides the world with the entertainment which the proper sport cannot. While this may seem like a temporary change, the fact is that technology is catching up. Racing simulations today are closer to reality than they ever have been before and there is serious talk of this sim-racing becoming the grassroots of motor sport. That which seems to be just a game today may soon become a pathway into the world of Formula 1 tomorrow and this is a viewpoint shared by several Formula1 drivers and experts.
It isn’t just the world of racing either. The world of chess has moved online during this period with the Magnus Carlsen Invitational leading the way, as the world’s top chess players compete at the highest level in an online tournament boasting a prize pool of $250,000, the largest prize pool of any online chess tournament to date. Meanwhile, football leagues have moved to FIFA 20 as the top players duke it out on the field, only this time they use controllers. The same goes for tennis and other sports all around the globe. FIFA isn’t the same as football, but the fact is that in uncertain times Esports can adapt and overcome. Also, with the development of Augmented and Virtual Reality, anything is possible. The game HADO, for example, allows players wearing VR headsets to take part in a kind of dodgeball game where they can throw fireballs at each other. This combines the physical aspects of the sport with the accessibility of technology. The reason this is so special is that Esports is no longer limited to a screen and is now three dimensional. Soon, we will probably see many other games like HADO and virtual tennis may also soon be three dimensional.
This is the future of Esports. Even if it doesn’t replace real sports, as time progresses, technology will improve and will at least serve as a pathway into the world of sport. Change is the only constant, and amidst adversity, Esports can adapt when actual sports can’t.
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