The business of eSports - 6 Minute English

Neil: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English.

I'm Neil.

Sam: And I'm Sam.

Neil: Now Sam, how would you define eSports?

Sam: eSports? Well this is essentially

competitive video gaming. Individuals

and teams take part in competitions

where they play video games.

Neil: So just like me and my kids at the weekend?

Sam: Well, no! eSports is enormous.

Tens of thousands of people turn up to

watch these events. The players are

professional and get paid huge

salaries – the best ones are millionaires.

Neil: Well, maybe I’m not quite in that

league yet! But the business of eSports is

our topic for this programme. Before we

press 'play' on the subject though, a

question. Approximately how much was

generated by eSports and video

games in the last year? Was it…

a) $130 million? b) $13 billion? c) $130 billion?

What do you think then, Sam?

Sam: I’m going to say $130 billion. It’s a

huge amount, but I think it’s that successful

at the moment.

Neil: OK, we’ll find out if you’re right at

the end of the programme. Not so long

ago the idea of making a living playing

computer games would have seemed

impossible. However, times have changed

as technology has improved. eSports are

even going to be included in the

2022 Asian Games. So it might not be

long before they make an appearance at

the Olympics. Gabriël Rau is a pro-eSportsman.

He was interviewed for the BBC

programme In Business. He thinks

eSports are going to grow and grow, but

does he think that’s a bad thing?

It's becoming more of a normal sports

thing with this generation about to have

children and moving forward I feel like it

might even become a staple. Might

become as normal as sports are right

now. I don't think it necessarily

has to be a bad thing. It is time-consuming

though, so I feel like, if you do want to

introduce anybody, especially children,

into video games, discipline is the way to go.

Neil: So, is the growth of eSports a bad thing?

Sam: Not, according to Gabriël. He thinks

that people having children now have

grown up with computer games and

these are beginning to be seen in the

same way as traditional sports.

In fact, he thinks they will become a

staple.

Neil: And what does he mean by that?

Sam: Something that is a staple is a basic

element, something we expect.

For example, in the UK we talk about

potatoes being a staple food

and football being a staple of the school

curriculum.

Neil: But he does mention a disadvantage,

doesn’t he?

Sam: Yes. He speaks quite quickly but he

says that it is time-consuming. It eats up

a lot of time!

Neil: Oh yes, I know that from my own

experience.

I can start playing a game then find that

many hours have passed and it’s the

middle of the night.

Sam: And that’s why Gabriël goes on to

talk about the need for discipline. This is

having strict controls and restrictions and

importantly sticking to them. So, for

example, if you say you are only going to

play for an hour every day, you have to

stop playing after an hour, even if you

want to carry on. That’s discipline.

Neil: And he makes the point that this is

important if you are introducing children

to video games. Not everyone involved in

eSports wants to be a player. It’s now

possible to study the business of eSports

at university where you can learn how to

manage eSports events.These are the

thoughts of a student on one

of those courses talking about her

response to seeing a big eSports event.

When you look at the background of how

it all comes together and the people that

spend all that time getting into it, for me I

would love to put something like that

together, not so much to play it but to put

that together and create that experience

for other people and that was just my

main aspiration really.

Neil: So she doesn’t want to play, does she?

Sam: No, she doesn’t. She seems more

interested in putting together an event,

which means setting up and managing an

event for others to take part in. That, she

said, was her aspiration, her ambition.

Neil: Right, before we review the

vocabulary, let’s have the answer to our

quiz question. Approximately how much

was generated by eSports

and video games in the last year?

a) $130 million? b) $13 billion? or

c) $130 billion? What did you say, Sam?

Sam: I thought $130 billion.

Neil: And, for once, you’re right so well

done. The actual figure was

approximately $137 billion, which was

more than the music industry when

you include music sales and concerts.

Right on now to remind ourselves of

some words and phrases from today’s

programme.

Sam: Yes, we’ve been looking at eSports,

the world of competitive video gaming.

Neil: We heard that it was becoming so

normal that it might become a staple, an

expected basic activity in the same way

sports like football are.

Sam: But be warned, playing video games

is very time-consuming. It eats up a lot of time.

Neil: So you need to have discipline. That

means you need to have and keep to

restrictions such as the length of time you

play or the time of day you play. That is

particularly important for children.

Sam: If you organise an event, you can

say that you put it together.

Neil: And your ambition, your hope for the

future is an aspiration.

Sam: And my aspiration is to beat my

high score on my favourite game, so are

we done now, Neil?

Neil: Yes, it’s game over for today. We’ll

see you again soon and don’t forget to

look out for more from the

BBC Learning English team online, on social

media and on our app. Bye for now.

Sam: Bye everyone!