Esport drifts
theoretical turmoil, epistemic privilege, and perspectives from the South
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30962/ecomps.3010Keywords:
Game studies, Esports, Digital culture, Gamer culture, Global SouthAbstract
This article discusses issues related to the concept and histories of esports, specifically how sports activities in video games are approached. From three general perspectives, it examines the theoretical turmoil and epistemic privilege that underpins the most common characterization of esports used by the academic community. It argues that epistemic models originating from the Global North, based on local stories of professional movements and the evolution of a small group in hegemonic spaces, are insufficient to make sense of the diversity of practices and gaming situations in esports. Ultimately, it proposes a definition that is epistemically fairer to the South.
Downloads
References
BESOMBES, N. Sport électronique, agressivité motrice et sociabilités. 2016. 640 f. Thèse (Docteur en Sciences) – Université Paris Descartes. Paris, 2016.
BOROWY, M.; JIN, D. Pioneering eSport: The Experience Economy and the Marketing of Early 1980s Arcade Gaming Contests. Int. J. Commun., v. 7, p. 1-21, 2013.
CARNEIRO, A.; FALCÃO, T. Colonialismo de dados e RPGs independentes: práticas de criadores nas plataformas digitais. Galáxia, São Paulo, v. 49, n. 1, p. 1-22, 2024.
CHIADO, M. 1983: o ano dos videogames no Brasil. São Paulo: Edição do autor, 2013.
DE PAULA, B. “Emergent countries play, too!”: The Zeebo console as a (partial) decolonial project. Contracampo, Niterói, v. 40, n. 2, p. 1-14, 2021.
FAUSTINO, D.; LIPPOLD, W. Colonialismo Digital: por uma crítica hacker-fanoniana. São Paulo: Boitempo Editorial, 2023.
FERREIRA, E. A guerra dos clones: transgressão e criatividade na aurora dos videogames no Brasil. Sessões do Imaginário, Porto Alegre, v. 22, n. 38, 72-84, 2017.
FREEMAN, G.; WOHN, D. eSports as an emerging research context at CHI: Diverse perspectives on definitions. In: CHI’17, 17., 2017, New York. Proceedings... New York: ACM, 2017, p. 1601-1608.
GUTTMANN, A. From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978.
HAMARI, J.; SJÖBLOM, M. What is eSports and why do people watch it? Internet Res., v. 27, n. 2, p. 211-232, 2017.
HUTCHINS, B. Signs of meta-change in second modernity: the growth of e-sport and the World Cyber Games. New Media Soc., v. 10, n. 6, p. 851-869, 2008.
JENNY, S. et al. Virtual(ly) Athletes: Where eSports Fit Within the Definition of “Sport”. Quest, v. 69, n. 1, p. 1-18, 2017.
JIN, D. (Ed.). Global Esports: Transformation of Cultural Perceptions of Competitive Gaming. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021.
JONASSON, K. Sport Has Never Been Modern. 2013. 89 f. Dissertation (Ph.D. in Food and Nutrition) – UG. Nordenskiöldgatan, 2013.
JONASSON, K. Broadband and circuits: the place of public gaming in the history of sport. Sport Ethics Philos., v. 10, n. 1, p. 28-41, 2016.
JONASSON, K.; THIBORG, J. Electronic sport and its impact on future sport. Sport Soc., v. 13, n. 2, p. 287-299, 2010.
KUEHN, K.; CORRIGAN, T. Hope Labor: The Role of Employment Prospects in Online Social Production. The Political Economy of Communication, v. 1, n. 1, p. 9-25, 2013.
MACEDO, T. Like a Pro: Dinâmicas Sociais no e-sport. 2018. 300 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Comunicação, Cultura e Amazônia) – UFPA. Belém, 2018.
MACEDO, T. Quem não sonhou em ser jogador de videogame? Free Fire, movimento e as mediações do esport no Brasil. 2023a. 430 f. Tese (Doutorado em Comunicação e Informação) – UFRGS. Porto Alegre, 2023.
MACEDO, T.; KURTZ, G. Quem não sonhou em ser um jogador de videogame? Colonialidade, precariedade e trabalho de esperança em Free Fire. Contracampo, Niterói, v. 40, n. 3, p. 1-23, 2021.
MESSIAS, J. et al. Projetos globais e histórias locais em Free Fire: apontamentos sobre a cena gamer de Imperatriz, no Maranhão. In: INTERCOM, 45., 2022, João Pessoa. Anais... São Paulo: Intercom, 2022, p. 1-13.
MIGNOLO, W. Historias locales/disenos globales: colonialidad, conocimientos subalternos y pensamiento fronterizo. Madrid: Akal, 2003.
MIGNOLO, W. Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom. Theory Cult. Soc., v. 26, n. 7-8, 159-181, 2009.
NASCIMENTO, Y. Dinâmicas sociais do desenvolvimento das culturas dos videogames no Brasil: o caso do Counter-Strike. 2023. 201 f. Dissertação (Mestrado) – UFRGS. Porto Alegre, 2023.
NEFF, G. Venture labor: Work and the burden of risk in innovation industries. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2012.
PAUL, C. The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games: Why Gaming Culture Is the Worst. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2018.
PEDRAZA-RAMIREZ, I. et al. Setting the scientific stage for esports psychology: a systematic review. Int. Rev. Sport Exerc. Psychol., v. 13, n. 1, p. 319-352, 2020.
PENIX-TADSEN, P. Cultural Code: Video Games and Latin America. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2016.
PENIX-TADSEN, P (Ed.). Video Games and the Global South. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University, 2019.
REITMAN, J. et al. Esports Research: A Literature Review. Games Cult., v. 15, n. 1, p. 32-50, 2020.
RODRIGUES, K. et al. Free fire e a diversidade configuracional dos esports: jogo comunitário e ideal de profissionalização em guildas do Maranhão. In: INTERCOM, 46., 2023, Belo Horizonte. Anais... São Paulo: Intercom, 2023, p. 1-16.
RUVALCABA, O. et al. Women’s Experiences in eSports: Gendered Differences in Peer and Spectator Feedback During Competitive Video Game Play. J. Sport Soc. Issues, v. 42, n. 4, p. 295-311, 2018.
SILVA, R. Sociabilidade e esportivização: A equipe de counter-strike da UFMG e o e-sport universitário. 2022. 181 f. Tese (Doutorado em Estudos do Lazer) – UFMG. Belo Horizonte, 2022
SUMMERLEY, R. The Development of Sports: A Comparative Analysis of the Early Institutionalization of Traditional Sports and E-Sports. Games Cult., v. 15, n. 1, p. 51-72, 2020.
TAYLOR, T. Raising the Stakes: E-Sports and the Professionalization of Computer Gaming. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2012.
TAYLOR, T. Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018.
TORNEIO Nacional Odyssey. Odyssey Aventura, São Paulo, n. 5, p. 2-7, 1984.
WAGNER, M. On the Scientific Relevance of eSport. In: THE 2006 ICOMP, 2006, Las Vegas. Proceedings... Nevada: 2006, p. 1-4.
WOHN, D.; FREEMAN, G. Live Streaming, Playing, and Money Spending Behaviors in eSports. Games Cult., London, v. 15, n. 1, p. 73-88, 2020.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Tarcízio Macedo
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nd/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The submission of originals to this journal implies the transfer, by the authors, of the printed and digital publication rights. The copyrights for the published articles belong to the author, with the rights of the journal over the first publication. The authors can only use the same results in other publications, clearly indicating this journal as the source of the original publication. Because we are an open-access journal, the free-of-charge,educational, scientific, and non-commercial use of the papers is allowed, as long as the source is cited.
Authorship
Any person who has effectively participated in the conception of the study, the development of the experimental part, the analysis and interpretation of data and the final wording, is considered as an author. By submitting an article for publication in E-Compós Journal, the author agrees with the following terms: 1. The author keeps the rights on the article, but its publication in the journal automatically implies the full and exclusive disposal of the copyright rights for the first edition, without payment. 2. The ideas and opinions expressed in the article are the sole responsibility of the author, not necessarily reflecting the views of the journal. 3. After the first publication, the author is authorized to take additional contracts, independent of the journal, for the dissemination of the paper by other means (e.g. when publishing in the institutional repository or as a book chapter), provided that the complete citation of the original publication. 4. The author of a published article is allowed and is stimulated to distribute his work online, always with the proper citation of the first edition.
Conflicts of interest and research ethics
If the developed research or the publication of the article may raise doubts as to potential conflicts of interest, the author should declare, in a final note, that no links to funding bodies have been omitted, as well as to commercial or political institutions. Similarly, the institution to which the author is bound should be mentioned, as well as others that may have collaborated in the execution of the study, evidencing that there are no conflicts of interest with the result already presented. It is also necessary to inform that the interviews and experiences involving human beings have obeyed the established ethical procedures for scientific research. The names and addresses informed in this journal will be used exclusively for the services provided by this publication, not made available for other purposes or to third parties. The copyrights belong exclusively to the authors. The licensing rights used by the journal consist in the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license: sharing (copying and distribution of the material in any media or format) and adaptation (remix, transformation and creation of material from licensed content for any purposes, including commercial) are permitted.