Stress in the field of esports isn’t to be taken lightly. I might not be a player myself…in fact, I don’t understand half of what’s going on, but I wasn’t hired for my ability to game. I basically just hover around, asking the pros if they’re doing okay and getting them help if they’re not doing so great. And things are really getting to the stage where I think we need some widespread help, like corporate stress management programs but for a slightly different audience.

Over-Botch is just the most highly-competitive field on the planet right now, with millions of viewers, and that can really get to people. It’s pretty much the same in any field of sport where loads of people are watching, but in Over-Botch you can’t hear the support of your fans, because you’re so focused on the game and…well, noise-cancelling headphones, to keep things professional and detached. I think that just makes things worse, and it’s something we’ve tried to combat with out-of-match programmes and events, but the stress just creeps in anyway. Performance anxiety when in-game, fears that you’re not quite living up to the fan expectation…it all builds.

Stress management techniques are big nowadays, though. Just like there’s now a whole industry for sports played via computer games, there’s a whole network of stress professionals to help out entire offices in need. Oh gosh, what happens when the stress management people get stressed because they don’t feel like they’re treating stress properly, when they actually are?? Who are the stress management consultants for the stress management consultants??

Questions for later. I know enough about the business now to say that we need some actual stress management courses in the team houses. Things can get pretty rough in there after really tough games, and that should be a place people can relax, not a tension zone.

-Raleigh