After lengthy discussions between Riot Games and US government, League of Legends players now deemed professional athletes, can be awarded visas.
The United States government now recognizes League of Legendsplayers as professional athletes and awards visas for them to come to the country to play.
Riot Games eSports manager Nick Allen told GameSpot in a new video interview (below) that the "groundbreaking" decision came about after much back-and-forth between the developer and the government.
"So the United States government recognizes League of Legends pro players as professional athletes and award visas to essentially work in the United States under that title," Allen said. "This is groundbreaking for eSports; now we can start looking at international players when they come over. It's a much easier process because they're actually recognized by the government. This is a huge thing."
"This was a lengthy process; we had a lot of people fighting for this. It wasn't something that happened overnight," Allen continued.
He further explained that Riot went back and forth with the government multiple times before enough evidence was provided to prove that the game is a legitimate sport.
I personally find this really interesting and good thing. I think that this can make eSports to even bigger thing and remove lot of stereotypes from gamers and some people (like my parents) could realize that being good at video games is actually good thing and can bring you fame and money like many other things.
And before anyone goes bananas and shouts something like "BUT DUSK PLAYING VIDEO GAMES ISN'T COMPARED TO ATHLETICS THIS DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE" No, sports is much wider thing than just athletics. Even pro chess players are considered as Pro Athletes. And playing video games competitively means that you have to practice a lot by yourself and with your team and you are actually under a lot of pressure because your team has to win. If you want money and some change for your team to continue, your team must do well in tournaments.
After lengthy discussions between Riot Games and US government, League of Legends players now deemed professional athletes, can be awarded visas.
I personally find this really interesting and good thing. I think that this can make eSports to even bigger thing and remove lot of stereotypes from gamers and some people (like my parents) could realize that being good at video games is actually good thing and can bring you fame and money like many other things.
And before anyone goes bananas and shouts something like "BUT DUSK PLAYING VIDEO GAMES ISN'T COMPARED TO ATHLETICS THIS DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE" No, sports is much wider thing than just athletics. Even pro chess players are considered as Pro Athletes. And playing video games competitively means that you have to practice a lot by yourself and with your team and you are actually under a lot of pressure because your team has to win. If you want money and some change for your team to continue, your team must do well in tournaments.
Edited by dusk