Morje!

No, this isn’t some Scandinavian pickled fish, but rather a way of saying good morning in Kölsch, the local dialect spoken in the city of Cologne. Why Kölsch? Because this week the Krautshell team is on tour at Gamescom, the world’s largest computer- and video games convention taking place in this city on the Rhine River.

To celebrate the occasion, and once again interrupting your summer break, we have a very special interview for you featuring one of the European Parliament’s foremost experts on E-sports and video games, MEP Karolin Braunsberger-Reinhold from the EPP Group. We sat down with her to discuss the status and recognition of E-sports in Europe, better regulation of the video games and E-sports sectors, and even her own experience playing online games.

So put on your headset, grab your controller, and ready up for this very special Krautshell E-sports edition. See you back in full swing in a few weeks!

Anna                                Christian

with Karolin Braunsberger-Reinhold, MEP

Krautshell:

How did you come to the topic of E-sports in the first place? Why is this topic important to you in your political career?

Braunsberger-Reinhold:

I was a gamer myself in a generation that grew up with Windows 3.11. We grew up with games. In terms of my career, I didn’t enter parliament until October, and I worked in local government for three years before that. I was in charge of the mayor’s office and in the course of that we spontaneously organized an E-sports tournament – within four weeks. And at this point we realized that at least with us in Sachsen-Anhalt [a state in eastern Germany] such events are classified overall as gambling, if they are not combined with other things such as a vocational training fair. And due to the clubs not receiving non-profit status, many associations are now faced with difficult challenges. And many are now either dissolved or transferred to the youth sector (which is limited to 27 years). Or, alternatively, the gaming industry. So gaming has personally been an important aspect for me.

Krautshell:

You have already moved on to the next topic, which is the recognition of E-sports. In your opinion, what positive effects do we see in countries where E-sports are officially recognized and actively supported by, for instance, the government? Take for instance South Korea, the US or China. What are countries missing out on if they don’t actively support the E-sport environment?

Braunsberger-Reinhold:

In Europe, we are completely missing out on the mass sport area. What we have in professional “normal” sport is a mass sport with clubs and a community that is formed also through the support of children and young people who are involved in these clubs from a very early age. Because we lack non-profit status, it is difficult to keep out of the entrepreneurial area, which is purely trimmed on achievement.  And as I said, the network could be simple, and other countries do a much, much better job of it.

Krautshell:

The German Olympic Sports Confederation officially declared in an expert opinion that E-sport is not considered a sport. What do you say as someone who advocates for a stronger recognition of E-sports? What can be further possibilities of action? How do you go on from here?

Braunsberger-Reinhold:

I cannot understand how the German Federation of Sports can recognize chess as a sport but not E-sports. We are talking just as much about strategy. We’re talking just as much about competition and concentration, about hours of preparation, about cooperation, about tactics – in other words, everything that makes up chess in a more relaxed sense makes up E-sports on an even faster, more competitive level. That means, if you recognize chess, then the recognition for E-sports should be obligatory. We shouldn’t have to discuss this at all. In Germany this would be a huge advantage but is not the only option. What has been discussed in the Bundestag is an amendment to the tax code, for instance. And there it looks very good, and the communication at the federal level is taking place.

Krautshell:

Let’s look at a sub-category, the regulation of E-sports and video games. Some issues of course are dealt with at the EU level, others at the federal or member state level. It appears that the European Parliament is pushing to regulate E-sports at the European level. What are the pros and cons of that?

Braunsberger-Reinhold:

The EU member states have different regulations. In France, for example, E-sports is recognized as a sport, so this area is managed quite differently, and a uniform regulation would simplify cooperation for everyone involved. The European E-sport Federation could simply work with uniform regulations. E-sport is now really a cross-border sport. We very rarely have E-sport only in one country. And with that we need EU-wide regulations simply based on the nature of E-sports. After all, we already have an E-sport visa for tournaments, which was quite a long struggle. Ultimately, we are responsible to create such a regulatory framework.

Krautshell:

Looking ahead, what can we expect from the legislative side within the EU? What do you think needs to change? Is there a need for change at all?

Braunsberger-Reinhold:

Yes, we see a need for change. We want to address this again at the EU level and, as I said, we hope that there will be more uniform regulation in the next few years. That is the issue here, and we are now also pushing it forward with those involved, so that is very important to us. I have already had many discussions about this, which is really helpful.

Krautshell:

It is often difficult to separate the discussion about E-Sports and video games from the calls for better safeguards against online abuse and gender inequality. Many of your colleagues in the EP are calling for better regulation of these issues. What are your views on these on this regulation?  And what can be done to combat these problems?

Braunsberger-Reinhold:

I think it’s important to keep in mind the comparison here between E-Sports and sports in general. Many things here run in parallel and also there we must fight against all kinds of discrimination. Just in the area of anorexia for example, anorexia plays a very large role in traditional sports. This is a point that can really be handled better, especially if we have association support. Because then trainers have an eye on the athletes, because we sometimes also have professional support in higher leagues, nutrition, counseling, and physiotherapy. A non-profit status would help to confront similar issues for E-sports.

Krautshell:

I had another question about the video game industry in general. In a recent meeting of the Culture Committee in the EP, Europe becoming a world leader in videogames was one of the topics of discussion. How would you say Europe currently stands on the world stage when it comes to competing in the video game market?

Braunsberger-Reinhold:

We are in a good position with some caveats. The big game manufacturers definitely are not from Europe. They come from Asian countries or the US. I think it also has a lot to do with it, but we have completely different working hours, regulations, and we definitely get the complaints from other places in other countries, or the challenges and problems. We have fundamentally different regulation, stricter regulation, also with regard to data protection, for example. And the industry also struggles with its own scandals, for example sex scandals and discrimination. But these issues then boil up for a year or a few months and then things move forward as before. And everything just continues like this. This makes the implementation of changes more difficult.

Krautshell:

I wanted to ask, is the European Union currently seeking any cooperation with the US when it comes to the E-sports environment, or is that relatively separate?

Braunsberger-Reinhold:

As far as I know, that is relatively separate at the moment, considering that we are really still at the very beginning at the moment. At the same time, we exchange information of course, but no direct regulatory cooperation at this time. The goal is to bring about more cooperation.

Krautshell:

Then I have one last question: Do you still have time to play now and then with your current workload? And if so, what are you playing right now?

Braunsberger-Reinhold:

In fact, the last time I played it was Gothic 2, but it’s been a while. The Gold Edition still runs on an older laptop. So if I ever have time, that’s what I play.

Krautshell:

Very cool. Thank you for your time.