ESports as Evolution: Shifting Social Values in Sport

Abstract

Tracing the history of sports as linked to practice and evaluation of socially, economically, or politically valuable skills, this paper analyzes eSports in the same context. It proposes that the rise of eSports is partly a product of society’s increased reliance and appreciation of information technology. It uses historical entertainment and leisure patterns as illustrative examples for why the increased attention to eSports is not merely the product of increased marketing, but instead an extension of a pattern recurring in sports and leisure. This pattern is a close link between the skills practiced in games and the extent to which society is oriented to value those activities. This paper does not aim to offer a definitive guide to how such leisure rises and falls, but instead offers another in the myriad of perspectives on why play piques spectator’s interest. This brief perspective is informed by core principles in evolutionary psychology biology, and communication. It hints at a potential alignment between sapiosexual preference and play leisure when compared to mid-20th century leisure and spectating.