For more than five decades, video games have been thrilling the masses worldwide – first in arcades, then on home consoles and hand-held devices. Finally, the move to the internet followed and today games can be played on every smartphone. As an entertainment medium, the video game industry has long since overtaken the film industry as a cash cow. But who would have thought that money and prestige could be earned just by playing these games? This is exactly where esports comes in …

The term esports is understood as an organized and competitive electronic sport in which one or more players compete in video and computer games. However, the basic idea behind it is not new. With the spread of the internet at the end of the 1990s and the simultaneous success of online team shooter games such as Counter-Strike, gaming became increasingly competitive.

To be successful in esports, you need a mixture of strategic understanding, quick reactions and team spirit. As with traditional competitive sports, there are official leagues with rules, competitions that are held in large arenas or stadiums and broadcast online worldwide, commentators, analyses, interviews, press conferences and reports. Not only is the competitive idea of being successful in a certain discipline similar to traditional competitive sport, but the infrastructure in the background with coaches, management and sponsors is in no way inferior. Many esports players are now employed by organized professional teams and receive a fixed monthly salary, sometimes in the high five-figure range, plus any prize money.

The majority of professional esports players are between 16 and 34 years old and are celebrated like pop stars by their fans when they are successful. While professional gaming was a male-domainted field until a few years ago, the scene has now stabilized with an equal number of male and female players.

Popular games in esports mainly come from the fields of sports (EA Sports FC formerly FIFA Soccer, Rocket League), strategy (StarCraft, League of Legends) or shooters (Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, Overwatch 2). In Germany, professional soccer teams maintain their own esports teams, which compete in a virtual national league. The COVID‑19 pandemic encouraged intensive interaction between esports gamers and professional athletes. For example, real-life American football stars played online matches against professional esports players in the popular game Madden NFL, and the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 2020 was held virtually with esports players alongside professional racing drivers via the iRacing platform. In the meantime, digital championships have formed worldwide in this discipline, and some talented esport racers have found their way from the virtual to the real racing cockpit, while professionals use online racing as another mainstay.

Esports also has its downsides. There is a great deal of pressure among gamers to succeed and a high level of competition. Esports players suffer from a lack of exercise and also lack an adequate balance in their hours of gaming. The careers of esports players are usually quite short, as they quickly become overstressed under the strain, their ability to react deteriorates with ages and there is no holistic training to maintain long-term performance over the years.

When looking at the risk assessment of esports athletes, the factors mentioned here, such as a potentially very good income but also possible health consequences, pose a challenge. Not to be forgotten is the fact that esports has long since acquired the status of a professional sport, meaning that participants are effectively regarded as professional athletes. As a result, when insurance professionals evaluate the risks associated with someone, for example working as a professional simulated racer, they often refer to the same regulations and acceptance guidelines used for real-world motorsports drivers.