BBC Learnings · Section 10

The business of eSports

Now Sam, how would you define eSports? eSports. Well, this is essentially competitive video gaming.

Level: B1 · 114 sentences

Transcript

  1. Now Sam, how would you define eSports?
  2. eSports. Well, this is essentially competitive video gaming.
  3. Individuals and teams take part in competitions where they play video games.
  4. Ah, so just like me and my kids at the weekend.
  5. Well, no. Esports is enormous.
  6. Tens of thousands of people turn up to watch these events.
  7. The players are professional and get paid huge salaries.
  8. The best ones are millionaires.
  9. Well, maybe I'm not quite in that league yet.
  10. But the business of esports is our topic for this programme.
  11. Before we press play on the subject though, a question.
  12. Approximately how much was generated by esports
  13. and video games in the last year?
  14. Was it a $130 million, b $13 billion, or c $130 billion?
  15. What do you think then, Sam?
  16. I'm going to say $130 billion.
  17. It's a huge amount, but I think
  18. it's that successful at the moment.
  19. OK, we'll find out if you're right
  20. at the end of the programme.
  21. Not so long ago, the idea
  22. of making a living playing computer games would have seemed impossible.
  23. However, times have changed as technology has improved.
  24. Esports are even going to be included in the 2022 Asian Games,
  25. so it might not be long before they
  26. make an appearance at the Olympics.
  27. Gabriel Rao is a pro esportsman.
  28. He was interviewed for the BBC programme In Business.
  29. He thinks esports are going to grow and grow.
  30. But does he think that's a bad thing?
  31. It's becoming more of a normal sports thing.
  32. With this generation about to have...
  33. children and moving forward I feel like
  34. it might even become a staple,
  35. might become as normal as sports are right now.
  36. I don't think it necessarily has to be a bad thing.
  37. It is time consuming though so I feel like
  38. if you do want to introduce anybody,
  39. especially children into video games, discipline is the way to go.
  40. So is the growth of esports a bad thing?
  41. Not according to Gabriel.
  42. He thinks that people having children now
  43. have grown up with computer games
  44. and these are beginning to be seen
  45. in the same way as traditional sports.
  46. In fact, he thinks they will become a staple.
  47. And what does he mean by that?
  48. Something that is a staple is a basic element, something we expect.
  49. For example, in the UK we talk
  50. about potatoes being a staple food.
  51. And football? Being a staple of the school curriculum.
  52. Ah, but he does mention a disadvantage, doesn't he?
  53. Yes, he speaks quite quickly but he
  54. says that it is time consuming.
  55. It eats up a lot of time.
  56. Ah yes, I know that from my own experience.
  57. I can start playing a game
  58. and then find that many hours have passed
  59. and it's the middle of the night.
  60. And that's why Gabriel goes on to talk about the need for discipline.
  61. This is having strict controls and restrictions and importantly sticking to them.
  62. So for example, if you say you're only
  63. going to play for an hour every day,
  64. you have to stop playing after an hour,
  65. even if you want to carry on.
  66. That's discipline. And he makes the point
  67. that this is important if you're introducing children to video games.
  68. Not everyone involved in esports wants to be a player.
  69. It's now possible to study the business of esports at university.
  70. where you can learn how to manage esports events.
  71. These are the thoughts of a student on one of those courses,
  72. talking about her response to seeing a big esports event.
  73. When you look at the background
  74. of how it all comes together
  75. and the people that spend all that time getting into it,
  76. for me I would love to put something like that together.
  77. Not so much play it,
  78. but to put that together and create that experience for other people.
  79. And that was just my main aspiration really.
  80. So she doesn't want to play, does she?
  81. No, she doesn't.
  82. She seems more interested in putting together an event,
  83. which means setting up and managing
  84. an event for others to take part in.
  85. That, she said, was her aspiration, her ambition.
  86. Right, before we review the vocabulary,
  87. let's have the answer to our quiz question.
  88. Approximately how much was generated by esports
  89. and video games in the last year?
  90. a $130 million, b $13 billion or c $130 billion?
  91. What did you say, Sam? I thought $130 billion.
  92. And for once you're right! So well done!
  93. The actual figure was approximately $137 billion,
  94. which was more than the music industry
  95. when you include music sales and concerts.
  96. Right, on now to remind ourselves
  97. of some words and phrases from today's programme.
  98. Yes, we've been looking at e-sports –
  99. the world of competitive video gaming.
  100. We heard that it was becoming
  101. so normal that it might become a staple –
  102. an expected basic activity in the same way sports like football are.
  103. But be warned – playing video games is very time consuming.
  104. It eats up a lot of time.
  105. So you need to have discipline.
  106. That means you need to have and keep to restrictions
  107. such as the length of time you play
  108. or the time of day you play.
  109. that is particularly important for children.
  110. If you organise an event,
  111. you can say that you put it together.
  112. And your ambition, your hope for the future, is an aspiration.
  113. And my aspiration is to beat
  114. my high score on my favourite game.