E-Sports Are Not Sport

Abstract

With the development of technology, the video games industry has also undergone a rapid change and e-sports, which is called competitive video games, has emerged. Creating its own ecosystem in a short time, e-sports has become a field that attracts millions of people today. This study focuses on whether e-sports, which has rapidly become universal with globalization, can be considered as a sport or not. In this evaluation, historian Allen Guttmann's modern sport and the basic criteria of modern sport, philosopher Bernard Suits' concepts of game and sport and Jim Parry's concept of Olympic sport are used. The reason why the works of these three names were used as the basic element in the research is that their works are widely accepted and cited in the academic world. In the study, a comparison was made between e-Sports and the basic arguments of the names mentioned above. When we look at e-sports in line with the basic thoughts of all three names, although e-sports is accepted as a competitive, skill-based, stable organization, the physicality element is perhaps the biggest problem area. Physicality is limited in e-sports. This is in direct contradiction to the essence of sport. It brings to mind the argument that e-sports disembodies sport. Secularization, equality, bureaucratic organization, rationalization, quantification, which are known as the seven basic criteria of modern sport, are unclear, insufficient or problematic in e-sports. In addition, the fact that e-sports is not included in the Summer Olympics by the International Olympic Committee makes e-sports controversial.

Keywords

• Sport
• E-sport
• Bernard Suits
• Allen Guttmann
• Jim Parry

E-Spor, Spor Değildir

Abstract

Teknolojinin gelişimiyle birlikte video oyunları endüstrisi de hızlı bir değişim içerisine girmiş ve rekabetçi video oyunları olarak adlandırılan e-spor ortaya çıkmıştır. Kısa bir zaman içerisinde kendi ekosistemini de oluşturan e-spor, günümüzde milyonlarca insanı kendisine doğru çeken bir alan haline gelmiştir. Bu çalışmada küreselleşme ile birlikte hızlı bir şekilde evrensel hale gelen e-sporun, bir spor olarak değerlendirilip-değerlendirilemeyeceği konusu üzerinde durulmaktadır. Bu değerlendirmede tarihçi Allen Guttmann’ın modern spor ve modern sporun temel kriterleri; felsefeci Bernard Suits’in oyun ve spor kavramları ve Jim Parry’nin olimpik spor kavramı kullanılmıştır. Bu üç ismin çalışmalarının, araştırmada temel unsur olarak kullanılmasının nedeni, çalışmalarının akademik dünyada oldukça yoğun bir şekilde kabul edilmesi, atıf almasıdır. Çalışma içerisinde e-sporla yukarıda bahsi geçen isimlerin temel argümanlarının bir karşılaştırması yapılmıştır. Üç ismin de temel düşünceleri doğrultusunda e-spora baktığımızda e-spor rekabete dayalı, beceri içeren, istikrara sahip bir organizasyon olarak kabul ediliyor olsa da fiziksellik unsuru belki de en büyük sorun alanını teşkil etmektedir. Fiziksellik, e-sporda sınırlı düzeydedir. Bu durum ise sporun özüne doğrudan bir şekilde aykırıdır. Zira e-sporun sporu, bedensizleştirdiği tartışmasını akla getirmektedir. Modern sporun yedi temel kriteri olarak bilinen özelliklerden sekülerleşme, eşitlik, bürokratik örgütlenme, rasyonalizasyon, miktarlandırma kriterleri e-sporda belirsizdir, yetersizdir veya problemlidir. Ayrıca e-sporun Uluslararası Olimpiyat Komitesi tarafından yaz olimpiyatlarına dâhil edilmemesi de e-sporu tartışmalı bir hale getirmektedir.

Keywords

• Spor
• E-spor
• Bernard Suits
• Allen Guttmann
• Jim Parry

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