23PHOTOGRAPH
BY
BENEDETTA
RISTORI
FOR
BLOOMBERG
BUSINESSWEEK.
DATA:
NEWZOO
than $1 billion in revenue this year, according to
researcher Newzoo. In some tournaments, about
100 players fight it out until there’s only one
contestant or team left standing. Others pit two
groups of five battling their way through a virtual
world in matches lasting anywhere from a few
minutes to several hours, with teams eliminated
or advancing until the final.
With so much at stake, it’s not uncommon for
competitors to spend more than 12 hours a day
at their computers, engaging in so-called scrims
against teammates to work out strategies and
hone skills. Just as stressful for players, psycholo-
gists say, is the growing trend of streaming prac-
tice sessions. Giorgio Calandrelli, an Italian with
the Fnatic team who’s better known as “POW3R,”
has more than 3 million followers on YouTube,
Instagram, and Twitch. Most afternoons he
streams his gaming sessions for several hours
before grabbing a pizza, often eating in front of
the camera while chatting with admirers. Then in
the evenings he’ll stream again—sometimes spar-
ring with fans just for kicks—until 2 a.m. or later,
when it’s hard to fall sleep after so many intense
hours staring at a screen. “I don’t take breaks,
because my following is insane,” the 27-year-old
says. “I have to give something back to my audi-
ence and make some sacrifices.”
Ingo Froböse says those sacrifices exact a heavy
toll. The professor at the German Sport University
in Cologne studies gamers’ pulses and levels of cor-
tisol, a stress hormone. The heart rates of e-athletes
can reach 140 to 150 beats per minute—similar toTHE BOTTOM LINE E-sports generate more than $1 billion in
annual sales, and top matches are played in arenas with 50,000-
plus spectators, with tens of millions more watching worldwide.those of pro marathon runners—and their cortisol
levels are comparable to those of many traditional
athletes. If not properly managed, Froböse says, this
can lead to serious stress and burnout. “Slowly but
steadily, e-sports are recognizing the importance of
physical as well as mental health,” he says.
Sam Mathews, chief executive officer of Fnatic—a
team founded in 2004 that’s competed in hundreds
of tournaments in dozens of different games—has
built a new headquarters to help players better
cope with the stress. Spread across two floors, the
airy open-plan site in East London’s Shoreditch
neighborhood resembles the countless tech start-
ups nearby. Worktops and desks made from wood
and steel are married to mismatched chairs, and
the floors and ceilings are made of polished con-
crete. There’s gym equipment, a bar with fresh fruit
and energy drinks, and an on-site chef who pre-
pares nutritious meals.
To help players get accustomed to the rigors of
competition, Mathews built a room configured with
bright lights, banks of gaming PCs, and cameras
to mimic the conditions onstage at a big tourna-
ment. The catalyst for the facility, Mathews says,
was the 2018 loss of a $2.4 million grand prize in
South Korea, which made him better appreciate the
pressure players face in big matches. “We under-
estimated the team that we needed around them,”
he says. “They should have had the best sports psy-
chologists money could buy.” �Nate Lanxon▲ Calandrelli, aka
“POW3R”