Getting paid millions to play video games sounds like the easiest job there is. Now, with professional gaming and esports on the rise, getting paid for playing games all day is no longer a pipe dream. However, is gaming for a living really as good as it sounds?

Health Issues

Firstly, while playing video games might not seem particularly dangerous or bad for health compared to some other professions, it still comes with its own health risks, both physical and mental.

1. Sitting a long time

Yes, sitting for prolonged durations, like pro gamers tend to do, is really bad for the body. Ever heard the phrase “sitting is the new smoking”? The phrase does well at emphasizing the fact that sitting is very bad for your body.

Spending lots of time in a chair and not moving much has been proven to cause issues such as slower metabolism, obesity, back pain, some types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and weak muscles. Most of these problems are caused by decreased blood circulation and underdeveloped muscles. Some doctors recommend standing desks as a healthier alternative.

2. Bad for the eyes

Staring at a screen for a long time can result in eye discomfort, fatigue, blurry vision, and headaches, which are usually caused by reduced blinking (66% less blinking when playing video games) and constant strain on the eyes. While pro gamers usually have short careers, harm dealt to your eyes is permanent.

3. Injuries

Even people who spend all day playing video games can get injuries, and these injuries are often pretty serious. One type of common injury gamers need to deal with is RSI (repetitive stress injuries). This type of injury is led by the gradual buildup of damage to muscles, tendons, and nerves, which are usually caused by repetitive motions like clicking a mouse or keyboard. If not treated properly, RSI can lead to bigger issues, such as swelling that lasts for months or even permanent damage in the form of constant pain.

Other injuries that gamers can face are usually related to bad posture, such as back pain and spinal dysfunction. There have also been several cases of collapsed lungs (when air doesn’t go where it should and messes up your breathing) that are likely caused by poor posture and bad breathing habits.

Mental Health

Prolonged gaming leads to mental health issues. Everybody knows that, but the harmful mental effects of video games are often not taken seriously.

1. Burnout

Burnout is what happens when stress in a job causes exhaustion and a lack of drive to do anything related to the task. Burnout in the context of gaming is just the gamer getting bored of the game. It is a minor problem for casual players, but for professional gamers whose whole job revolves around playing video games, burnout can cause a great decrease in efficiency as it causes a lot of stress. In fact, several pro-gamers have stopped competing because of it.

2. Addiction

Addiction is much more important and serious than burnout. While burnout might cause stress and depression and make pro-gamers feel like hell, addiction is a whole other can of worms that not only affects the jobs of professional gamers but also the lives of normal people. Addiction is characterized by a compulsive urge to do something, usually caused by the bursts of happy chemicals that we associate with the act. There are two types of addiction: chemical and behavioral addiction. Gaming addiction is a behavioral addiction, but it can be just as destructive as drugs.

Internet gaming, along with the internet in general and gambling, are common types of behavioral addiction. Pro-gamers are more vulnerable to addiction as they are exposed to it more often. While it might not directly impact their skills at gaming, it could cause physical health issues due to neglect and other problems like bad grades at school and poor mental health.

Issues With Esports Infrastructure

Pro gaming is a relatively new concept and doesn’t have solid foundations like other organized sports (for example, sports like soccer, football, basketball all have their own players’ union, well-established codes, and people to enforce them), which would obviously lead to some problems.

1. Corruption

Corruption in Esports is more annoying than disastrous. An example of this would be the fixed CS:GO match between teams iBUYPOWER and NetCodeGuides, dubbed “the first large match-fixing scandal” in the CS:GO community and led to four players getting banned. In this game, players, judges, and commentators all noticed that team “iBUYPOWER” was playing terribly and doing stupid things that lost them in the game. It was only after a lot of investigation and looking into chat logs that people finally understood what happened in that game.

2. No player’s union

A player’s union is an organization whose sole role is to make sure that players are not mistreated and have the same employment rights as other workers. There is no player’s union for Esports. A lack of players’ union leaves the players at the mercy of their teams.

3. Cheating

People cheat in video games. This is a widely accepted and generally understood fact. There is no shortage of examples about Esport players using new and inventive ways to cheat their way to victory.

One famous case of cheating in esports is a CS:GO game in 2018, in which Indian player Forsaken was caught using an aimbot hack (cleverly named “word.exe” because that’s not suspicious at all) and even tried to deny it while trying to delete his cheat files.

Gaming sounds easy, but it’s not

Professional gaming sounds like the easiest and simplest way to earn money; however, the fact is that physical health, mental health, and infrastructural issues of pro gaming leaves too much to be desired, and pursuing a career in Esports gaming is just not a great idea.

Perhaps one day, gaming can become a prestigious and profitable job, but until then, a career in Esports is just a gamble and is unlikely to lead to success.