Abstract
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people's social, economic, and cultural lives have been dramatic. Social isolation, information overload from news consumption, the absence of sports activities, and other phenomena contributed to a significant rise in the volume of online gaming during the pandemic. The study reported in this chapter explores the meaning of sports games in this period, on the basis of in-depth interviews with amateur and professional eSports players. For amateur gamers, video games provided genuine comfort in times of social, emotional, and sports deficits, and helped many players pass the time when cultural and leisure events were significantly restricted. Games sustained players' social lives and, of equal importance, helped many escape the barrage of news reports and information on the spread of the virus. In contrast, professional players felt that they regressed during the pandemic and that the pandemic eroded their professional status.
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