This archive report was first published on 20 August 2019.
At the world championship of eSports, The International, thousands of fans gathered to watch the best teams compete in the multiplayer battle game Dota 2. For the players, however, the excitement came with a price.
Evgenii "Blizzy" Ri, a 24-year-old from Kyrgyzstan and a player for Natus Vincere, or NAVI, revealed that a doctor had urged him to take six months off to rest his failing vision. Ri practices up to 12 hours a day, and his deteriorating eyesight does not hinder his performance because the screen is up close.
"I didn't worry before but now I feel like my eyes are really... I can't see so much," Ri said.
According to several players in Shanghai, the most common health complaint for pro gamers is Carpal Tunnel syndrome, a condition caused by repetitive hand and wrist motions. In severe cases, surgery is required.
Some gamers talked about wrist injuries so severe they had to quit and lower back problems related to sitting for too long, day after day.
"I used to play and I had some arm and wrist problems so now I coach instead of playing because I can't take the strain," said Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling, of the Newbee team.
Another hazard of eSports is the mental toll, particularly with life-changing sums of money on the table. With many players so young -- most are in their 20s but there is a 17 year old at The International -- some struggle in the hyper-competitive environment.
"Most of the obstacles in this kind of environment is the mentality," said Ryan "Raging Potato" Jay Qui of the Mineski team, who added that Mineski has a "psych adviser" who helps prop up the players.
While the money at the top of eSports is soaring, in other respects gaming remains well behind many other professional sports. Newbee coach Ling said that eSports is only now starting to appreciate the need for physiotherapists and other staff specialising in physical and mental well-being, though most teams have no such back-up. Cost is the major reason.
