The Role of the European Union for the Governance of the Esports Society?

Abstract

Esports (“electronic sports” or “competitive video games”) have rapidly developed and become a renowned and popular industry worldwide. Despite this rapid development, the governance of esports society is challenging due to the lack of a unified institution to govern this society, primarily because of the copyrights held by esports publishers. However, in November 2022, the European Parliament adopted a report on esports and video games (2022/2027(INI)). This indicates the European Union’s (EU) intention to regulate esports activities. This is a significant step for the “European” esports society, but the EU should not become an entity that governs the entire esports society. This is because esports have a transnational nature via internet beyond the national borders. Furthermore, esports society is of global nature because it contains not only European countries but also non-European countries, such as China, Japan, South Korea and the United States. Therefore, the EU should consider this aspect when developing normative and legal instruments to govern the esports society. Given this context, a pertinent question is how the EU can contribute to enhancing the governance of esports society. This article will explore the following research questions: (1) How have esports developed in Europe? (2) What can the European Union do?; (3) What impact does the European Parliament’s report have on the esports society?; and (4) How should the EU create normative instruments applicable to the esports society? This research will serve to identify how the EU should govern the European esports society and to clarify its role in improving the governance of the esports society.