Risks in eSports and company stakeholder responsibility

eSports capture the interest of video gamers of all ages, from children to adults. The allure and passion for eSports continues to grow every year, attracting substantial financial investments into its ecosystem. This creates the opportunity for individuals to pursue eSports as a legitimate financial career, where aspiring or professional players would often dedicate numerous hours to honing their craft. However, video gaming done in excess can be problematic as players are exposed to the increased likelihood of developing health issues due to inherent risks. These factors may lead to negative short- or long-term health consequences, which can affect the careers of eSports players. As a result, there should be a duty of care for players existing in the eSports space. This raises the following question: who is best equipped to provide a duty of care for the eSports player base? This article proposes this probable role being satisfied by video game publishers. Subsequently, the following question could also be raised: why video game publishers? The primary reason is their role in the video game industry. Video game publishers are responsible for the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of video games (Greenspan et al., n.d.). They customarily act as the information providers to the consumer about the product mainly through marketing and public relations. Thus, they can be responsible for providing information towards their entire consumer base ranging from eSports causals to professionals while impacting the public narrative of video games.