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Doping in esports rampant, industry insider claims
Technology esports on concentration levels and reaction times – crucial attributes for gaming success. Gym over, the team spars for 2 hours with other pro gamers around the world, before breaking To be the best, you have to train. And that means moving in together for lunch. Then they spend another 2 hours watching videos of rival teams, gleaning whatever everything,” says Michael O’Dell, when you have a manager and Simon Parkin intelligence they can that might Team Dignitas’s managing an analyst looking over your THIS year’s world championship give themselves an edge in director. “When my teams shoulder – nobody’s mucking final for the hugely popular game practise remotely over the competition. around. They’re fully focused.” League of Legends takes place in After dinner, most of the team internet I don’t know what’s going Dignitas follows a strict regime. October at the Sangam Stadium, plays League of Legends well into on in the background. Are they Each morning the team heads the cavernous venue in Seoul, the night. Mondays are a day of concentrating properly? Is the together to the gym. Gaming is South Korea, that hosted the rest, although O’Dell says that television on? But when you’re inherently sedentary, but O’Dell 2002 World Cup final. The prize in a gaming house – especially believes that fitness has an impact they’ll often spend at least some pot will total millions of dollars, of the day gaming “for fun”. and the tens of thousands of Team Dignitas has around spectators will be joined by 60 members and competes in nine millions more online. video games. More than half the Money changes sport, even members draw a salary, derived virtual sport. As prize money from tournament winnings, has grown, so too has gamers’ sponsorship and advertising professionalism and dedication. revenue from Twitch.TV, a website One such group of five young men that streams live matches. Top has just moved into a millionplayers can earn up to $200,000 dollar mansion near Long Beach, a year, although the average is California. Here, Team Dignitas around $60,000, O’Dell estimates. will live and train together in the With so much at stake, O’Dell hope of becoming the 2014 League has hired a life coach for the of Legends world champions. players. “They’re able to open The so-called gaming house is up to him about their problems, a relatively recent phenomenon, both personal and professional,” but there are hundreds of these he says. “Last week he took them esports boot camps around the to the beach and they built world, where young teams live sandcastles together as a teamtogether to learn more about building exercise. It has to be their chosen game and one other. like a family, a team, otherwise –Taking one for the team?– it doesn’t work at all.” n “Living together changes
Boot camps build winners
Doping in esports rampant, industry insider claims WITH millions of dollars at stake and thousands of fans watching your every move, the pressure to perform as an esports player can be huge. And so can the temptation to dope. On 4 August, Bjoern Franzen – a consultant and marketer formerly with one of the world’s largest esports companies – publicly declared that doping in esports is rampant. In a big blog post, Franzen wrote that gaming 18 | NewScientist | 16 August 2014
firms are turning a blind eye to the substance use right under their noses. “I have seen players pop a pill even an hour before important games either to calm them down or push themselves,” he told New Scientist. Some prominent esports leagues have already banned such substances. Nonetheless, Franzen says he’s seen players take a host of drugs, including Ritalin, which improves focus, and the beta-blocker propranolol, which blocks the effects of adrenaline to help players stay calm under pressure. However, Alexander Müller, managing director at German esports giant SK Gaming, says the company
strictly forbids any doping, and has never had to deal with it among their players. “We establish close to very close relationships with our players,” he told New Scientist in an email. “Drugs have never been a factor in our history with players whatsoever.” Many pseudonymous comments on Reddit.com indicate neuro-enhanced gaming is for real. For example: “I know a few friends that made huge climbs from snorting ritalin between games.
“I’ve seen players pop a pill an hour before important games, either to calm them down or push themselves”
Since then, I’ve always wondered if doping posed an issue to esport organizers,” wrote user Tooky17. “The real danger here is the temptation to escalate,” says Brendon Boot, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Players may end up on ever higher doses, using the drugs in risky ways such as snorting or injecting them, or mixing them. “For example, taking selegiline with an antidepressant can lead to something called serotonin syndrome: headache, confusion, muscle spasms, hyperthermia, tremors and sometimes death,” says Boot. “These guys are playing with fire.” Hal Hodson n
Boot camps build winners
Doping in esports rampant, industry insider claims WITH millions of dollars at stake and thousands of fans watching your every move, the pressure to perform as an esports player can be huge. And so can the temptation to dope. On 4 August, Bjoern Franzen – a consultant and marketer formerly with one of the world’s largest esports companies – publicly declared that doping in esports is rampant. In a big blog post, Franzen wrote that gaming 18 | NewScientist | 16 August 2014
firms are turning a blind eye to the substance use right under their noses. “I have seen players pop a pill even an hour before important games either to calm them down or push themselves,” he told New Scientist. Some prominent esports leagues have already banned such substances. Nonetheless, Franzen says he’s seen players take a host of drugs, including Ritalin, which improves focus, and the beta-blocker propranolol, which blocks the effects of adrenaline to help players stay calm under pressure. However, Alexander Müller, managing director at German esports giant SK Gaming, says the company
strictly forbids any doping, and has never had to deal with it among their players. “We establish close to very close relationships with our players,” he told New Scientist in an email. “Drugs have never been a factor in our history with players whatsoever.” Many pseudonymous comments on Reddit.com indicate neuro-enhanced gaming is for real. For example: “I know a few friends that made huge climbs from snorting ritalin between games.
“I’ve seen players pop a pill an hour before important games, either to calm them down or push themselves”
Since then, I’ve always wondered if doping posed an issue to esport organizers,” wrote user Tooky17. “The real danger here is the temptation to escalate,” says Brendon Boot, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Players may end up on ever higher doses, using the drugs in risky ways such as snorting or injecting them, or mixing them. “For example, taking selegiline with an antidepressant can lead to something called serotonin syndrome: headache, confusion, muscle spasms, hyperthermia, tremors and sometimes death,” says Boot. “These guys are playing with fire.” Hal Hodson n