esports and Performance Enhancers – What You Should Know

Professional gamers don’t have any use for high-end steroids and the likes. As such, you might not see them on the list of banned substances in esports. However, the actual list of prohibited performance enhancers for gamers taking part in official competitions is quite the read.

For example, the shortened list of the class of substances banned from esports contains more than 10 bullet points. While many countries refuse to acknowledge esports as an actual sport, it’s clear that, given this list, it has the chance of becoming more than just known as playing video games for money.

If you’re a professional gamer or plan to be one in the near future, here’s what you need to know about using substances to enhance your performance.

The Shortened List of Banned Substances

The list starts with anabolic agents (mainly testosterone steroids) and goes on with growth factors, hormones, beta-2 agonists, metabolic modulators, masking agents, stimulants, narcotics, cannabinoids, glucocorticoids, and a couple more.

As you can see, pretty much all the pills that one can take to relax or alternatively become more aware are banned. At the same time, special circumstances do apply. For example, cannabinoids are not banned in all professional esports competitions. But, given the overall shelf life of CBD, you’re safe skipping out on its use for a couple of weeks as it will not go bad.

Ultimately, it is also worth mentioning that anxiety medication is banned from most competitions. The same applies to ADHD medication, and the commonly prohibited substances (Adderall, Focalin).

What Should Professional Gamers Learn from this List?

Well, as mentioned, you can rest assured – people are taking esports seriously if prohibited substances are a thing. Back in 2015, plenty of esports articles talked about how Adderall is one of the main problems that organizers have to manage during professional competitions.

On the other hand, professional gamers should also understand that they can’t employ any tricks to ensure their victory. Playing video games is seen as a sport of the mind, where strategy and logic must come first – and not by some pill crafted in a lab.

Performance Enhancers and esports

For the sports of the mind, a performance enhancer can be something as simple as a stress ball or a piece of chocolate. Basically, whatever makes the player happy and allows them to create serotonin will round up to a good outcome, so to speak.

Given this, one might argue that performance enhancers are quite a feeble term. Gamers can find a certain mouse better than anything else they’ve experienced and play like a god with it. Should that be classified as performance-enhancing?

Well, obviously not. It is important to be able to differentiate between a pill that you take for anxiety and a pill that you take to play better.

The Bottom Line

The full list of prohibited substances in esports is made up of two documents. One is the usual anti-doping policy that is, more or less, applied in conventional sports as well. The other is a 10-page document that describes in detail which substances are completely forbidden from most, if not all esports competitions.

While esports is based on playing games, being able to partake in its activities is not, especially if one plans to gain an unfair advantage over their peers.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the management of EconoTimes