What should we think about when e-sports enters other people’s classrooms?

Recently, foreign media reported that a public high school in Norway has listed e-sports as a formal elective course.

From the comments on Sina Weibo, we can see that most domestic netizens expressed envy or support for this, but there are also a small number of netizens who think that e-sports is not a "serious matter" after all, and such practices are not worth promoting.

In fact, despite being the world's largest e-sports market, many Chinese people still lack a sufficiently objective understanding of it. This innovative move by Norwegian educational institutions has reminded us that it is time to seriously consider the issue of e-sports.

What is the value behind business?

Money has always been the most effective factor in stimulating the growth of an industry. In the past two years, the growing strength of domestic e-sports teams is also inseparable from the attractive benefits.

It is no longer new to hear that e-sports practitioners can easily earn hundreds or even tens of millions of yuan a year. These figures have naturally become a powerful driving force to attract young people to join this group. Recently, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television announced that the number of Chinese gamers exceeded 100 million in 2015, and the revenue of the game industry reached 140.7 billion yuan, of which e-sports accounted for nearly 20%.

In the same year, the total box office of Chinese movies was 44 billion yuan. In comparison, the market prospects of the e-sports industry are self-evident. This is also the reason why more and more companies continue to enter this field. Of course, commercial value never exists independently, so what is the actual support for the e-sports market?

As early as 2003, e-sports was officially designated as the 99th sport by the State Sports General Administration. Like traditional sports, competition is its essential feature and direct value. Some practitioners said that e-sports also conveys a higher, faster and stronger sports spirit to the public. With the guidance of typical events and the establishment of a standard system for events, the competitive value will become more obvious.

On the other hand, after the e-sports teams became popular, some teams took the opportunity to go the entertainment route, further accumulating popularity by participating in variety shows or simply packaging themselves as model teams, and some teams even directly attacked idol dramas. It can be seen that some people have begun to try to tap the entertainment value of e-sports. In fact, live broadcast platforms have long transplanted entertainment gameplay to the e-sports field. Whether it is anchors or players, they can gather fans to realize monetization.

This news from Norway makes us realize that in addition to competition and entertainment, e-sports may also realize its value in education. It is reported that the curriculum of Norwegian high schools includes several parts such as games and physical training. Teachers will judge the grades based on the game knowledge, game skills, communication, cooperation and tactical ability mastered by students. Recently, a British study showed that game training can make students more focused. Or as some Chinese netizens said, e-sports courses will help cultivate students' competitive spirit and teamwork ability.

How to connect and guide channels?

Last week, the live broadcast platform Douyu Live's incident of having a baby brought a lot of negative impact to the e-sports circle. Some media took the opportunity to review the "negative energy" news in the circle in 2015. While the e-sports industry is growing wildly, the lack of systematic and formal guidance channels is one of the problems that cannot be ignored.

On the one hand, these channels should play a role in attracting players and educating the market, and on the other hand, they should also take the responsibility of regulating the market and forming the right direction. On the first point, the fan effect of stars or Internet celebrities is significant, and the participation of celebrity players has indeed attracted a lot of attention to the e-sports industry. But on the latter point, the spontaneous actions of non-governmental organizations always seem to lack sufficient credibility.

In this context, the leadership of official institutions has greatly promoted the professionalization and standardization of e-sports projects. In 2009, the State Sports General Administration established the Electronic Information Project Department, and in 2010 began to organize professional competitions. Not long ago, news came out that the national e-sports team was established and the first national mobile e-sports competition was held.

Until now, many people, especially parents, still think that video games are not suitable for the public. It is undeniable that addiction to them will have many negative effects on the physical and mental health of players. Therefore, it is more important to effectively guide the public to correctly understand and participate in them. Norway's attempt to use schools as a guide and teenagers as the target population has at least brought us a new idea.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.