Competitive gaming has immense potential. With viewers being able to relate to the professional players, on top of the ease in witch they communicate and watch the sport through streaming channels, never has a “sport” been so accessible to fans.
Not surprisingly, Call of Duty is on the rise as one of the most popular games in the e-sport community. With both Treyarch and David Vonderhaar having an agenda to push their series into “mainstream” competitive play, Call of Duty has some of the best developer support in the industry. To add to the developer support, Call of Duty also has one of the largest on-line gaming communities behind it
But there is a problem. As popular as Call of Duty is, the game has a bad reputation on every perceivable scale. Not only is the game knocked for rehashing the same game mechanics, engine and style year after year, but the community itself is notorious for having angry, underage children who seem to have had sex with everyone’s mother all while giving Hitler a lesson in anti-Semitism.
But the casual players shouldn’t dictate the public’s perception of the sport, right? One would hope. Unfortunately e-sports are already looked down on as immature and unprofessional. It does not help when some of these immature tendencies creep their way into the competitive scene.
Last night during the UMG 10K event, there was by far one of the best showings of e-sport entertainment I have ever witnessed. Optic Gaming clutched an incredible game over CompLexity, securing the comeback win of the decade. Sadly, this incredible game was quickly overshadowed by the ridiculous gloating from Optic Gaming, and then amplified by a member of CompLexity who felt the need for things to get physical between the two teams.
I won’t go into the details, as things were sorted out quickly, but these teams need to be aware of their actions. Event organizers, sponsors and fans alike are all paying attention and stereotypes know no boundaries. If e-sports and competitive gaming want to be taken seriously in the grand scheme of things, then the players themselves will have to hold themselves up to the professional standard in which they strive to represent.
You guys have the future of e-sports and the potential for its success it in the palms of your hands; don’t let some immature bickering become the first impression thousands of fans have of the sport.
As always, let me know what you guys think. Did you enjoy the event? How about that incredible last game? Let me know by subscribing to me here and following me on twitter @NicholasGigante.
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