Play The Game Over

A photo documentary project about Esports and the culture of videogames.

Professional sports are based on competition.
The concept of Olympic sports is not linked and recognized as attributable to physical fatigue, sweat or an idea that can only be correlated to sports known as Football, Volleyball or Basketball, for example.
But it is more connected to the effective competitiveness and the success that is created when the same sport becomes interest of more people, and the business that is generated.

eSports are the last frontier of competitive sports practiced with seriousness and professionalism.
Team of young athletes who face each other in videogames of different kind to win the prize offered by the organizing circuit.
Workouts managed by specialized coaches. Gaming Houses as gyms. Live commentary from very prepared commentators and Live streaming of the matches seen by hundreds of thousands of viewers from all over the world.

A reality that has grown over the last few years and that is booming in a disproportionate way in Asia and the United States of America.
Stadiums and Arenas full of fans and profits that will grow the 12% in the 2020-2025 period.

However, most people are not aware of the eSports.
The information that talk about them is totally focused on competitions and prizes. A type of language that can only be readed by those who already know them.
Therefore it creates a prejudice to the point that many times they are more easily associated with acts of violence.
The same parents are worried about the time spent in front of the PC by their children, unaware of the community and the strong social component that moves, innate, behind video games.

The arcades are almost disappeared but now, after a period of absence of "real-life" places dedicated to videogames, new realities are born: Gaming Houses, shops and eSports themed pubs.
Here the players can meet and share this passion.
A passion that leads athletes to spend many hours on a single videogame to get to compete at the highest levels and get to play on the European and International scene, before the same game is replaced by a new production.
This is the real difference with traditional sports.
A videogame in fact has a life cycle imposed in part by the manufacturer of the same game and in part by the community that supports it.

"Play The Game Over" is the story of competitive videogames in Italy.
A deep view in a sport born from a drastic evolution of gaming.
A sport for the new generations but that is linked to the memories and culture that we all have experienced.

Videogames hit our homes in 70’s.
In the 80’s the first “Space Invaders” Championship.
In 2014 the “League of Legends” tournament is played in the Seoul Stadium.
Esports has been officially declared Olympic Sport in 2017.
The american superstar Travis Scott launched his new single inside the videogame "Fortnite" in a dedicated virtual event.
During the Covid pandemic, the videogame market grew by 20%, exceeding the value of other sports and cinema combined.