Doping in eSports: the billion-dollar pill

Doping is a growing problem in the multi-billion dollar industry of competitive online gaming – but remains an open secret. As prize money runs in to the millions, are more young people turning to drugs to stay focused to win? With major league eSport athletes admitting to mass doping, we speak with the founder of the world’s first eSport university programme - Dr Glenn Platt at Miami University, Ohio - who tells us the casual attitude to doping for performance enhancement. Varsity eSport players Jared Shapiro and Jennifer Frank tell us that doping using Adderall and Ritalin are engrained within eSports, making it to difficult ban, when so many gamers need them for medical purposes. Doping in eSport regulator Ian Smith from the eSports Integrity Commission says that the major tournament organisers and games publishers should foot the bill for testing – which is severely underfunded. But while the major names – DOTA 2, Overwatch and League of Legends – continue to grow in users during lockdown, Craig Fletcher, an eSports tournament organiser, says the business has less money to spend on regulation, after coronavirus stops people gathering for tournaments.

(Image: Pixelated pills. Credit: non157 / Getty Images)