By: Donald J Slater Jr.
In July of 2020, the idea of mental health ceased being a buzzword or a filler phrase for people involved in or a fan of esports. Byron “Reckful” Bernstein, a world-famous video gamer streamer and former #1 ranked professional World of Warcraft player, passed away at age 31. After it was discovered that Reckful had taken his own life, the esports realm froze for a moment. In the weeks leading up to his death, Reckful had sent out a number of concerning tweets which in hindsight, many saw as warning signs. However, Reckful had previously been public about his struggles with mental health and did not keep his depression a secret from the gaming world, and went as far as to acknowledge he had been diagnosed with Bipolar Type 2.
The shockwave that Reckful’s death sent through the gaming world resonated with most gamers as he was not only a trailblazer for esports but was one of the first-ever streamers that many of today’s gamers grew up watching. This caused esports journalists across the globe to take a dive into the ugly and not so glamourous or appealing side of esports; the sheer mental strain of competing in an area where the labor laws are virtually nonexistent and where players must rely solely on their own judgment and the schedule/structure of their teams to decide how many hours behind the screen they will be grinding.
To remain competitive on the biggest of stages with other competitors, the players often feel like they can’t stop playing, even in their own free time. The unique dynamic that makes esports incredibly accessible to people who want to be involved is also the source of why players can feel this immense pressure. Unlike traditional sports where teams would not only have to potentially interview but also bring in, workout/practice, and obtain a physical for a player they would like to sign, in esports, it is as simple as looking at the leaderboards for a game and reaching out over the internet to have a tryout and interview process that can take place without anyone so much as leaving their bedrooms.
For the average player involved in esports, a 12-14-hour day is not out of the ordinary and the typical workweek is often six days with the possibility of seven straight days of gaming. This recipe for disaster is why so often stories slip out about players succumbing to physical impairments and burnout which results in most players leaving esports by the age of 24. Perhaps the biggest detriment the players have when turning professional in esports is the lack of exposure to the development that traditional sports athletes go through on their way to becoming professionals.
Football players, for example, typically start in “Pop Warner” leagues when they are little and continue playing in town leagues until they get to high school where the sport is far more organized and competitive. Those that wish to continue their careers will go on to play in college (which consists of 12-16-hour days), and for the truly gifted and committed they will end up in a professional league. The “prep-to-pro” pipeline is non-existent right now as the scene is fairly new so a parallel timeline for gamers at best is to go from casually playing with friends online to loosely competitive tournaments leagues and then right onto the professional level of play. Players usually do not have an opportunity to adjust or build up coping mechanisms to be able to handle the intensity of an esports schedule.
Contrary to what one might assume, winning and success in esports does very little in the way of alleviating much, if any, of the stress, that players feel. The stress and pressure of being flown around the world and expected to win can become daunting as the structure of many tournaments and competitions involve a “win or go home” structure and sometimes there are millions of dollars on the line. Most players’ livelihoods are directly tied to how well they place or perform and any slump or dip in performance can begin a spiral into unimaginable stress especially as most players have either forgone obtaining their degrees or dropped out in the process of obtaining them to pursue esports. Elevating the pressure even more for players today is the modern-day gold rush the esports scene is experiencing as many teams and investors are trying to maximize their profits in this billion-dollar industry that is still in its infancy, even if it is at the expense of the talent used to realize this gold.
While the idea of esports at its core appears glorious and surreal as getting paid to play video games is every kid’s dream, a serious change must be made to create a better product not only for the fans to enjoy but for the players to actually enjoy what they do for those fans. As seen from the “Tfue” case, teams are well aware of the health risks involved in some of the things they are asking the players to do. Couple this with the fact that players are young, vulnerable, and likely sacrificed their education or traditional professional future for the sake of pursuing a dream, there needs to be legal protections and regulations to not only save the players from their teams but from themselves as well.
Teams are perfectly willing to sign players to exploitative contracts which will see those same players either burnt out at the end of their terms or suffering from an injury that allows the team to comfortably pick, from the litter of millions of prospects, a replacement. League regulations, firm laws, and/or statutes should prevent players from playing and practicing for more than 10 hours a day for a team or organizations and would dramatically curb the rapid burnout being noted across the industry.
Furthermore, unionization for players in leagues that mirror traditional leagues like the NFL, NBA, and MLB would allow the players to collectively bargain for things like a set number of practice hours that teams would not be able to surpass in a given week. Ultimately, however, it must be acknowledged that some players, just like some athletes, will be grinding nonstop despite what rules may be put in place. For those players, having teams encourage and procure a sports psychologist or mental coach may prove advantageous in an effort to use that kind of worth ethic in the healthiest manner possible.
Student Bio: My name is Donald Slater Jr., I go by “Slater” and along with being a law student I am a former esports competitor. Though I never made it to the biggest stages with the bright lights, my passion for the sport has only grown stronger and has sparked an interest in the laws revolving around it. This time, I took a dive into an often overlooked area of mental health within the gaming community.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
