Pornstars & gaming

This video is in response to the news announcement that porn site Brazzers had expressed interest in sponsoring players, such as LI|Joe, and possibly events in the future. The news was met with mixed reactions from players, tournament organisers and spectators alike. For practical reasons, such as widening the potential sponsor pool, I can see this as a good thing.

I understand that people don't want kids who attend fighting game tournaments to be exposed to sites such as Brazzers. However, if it is simply a logo on a t-shirt, then it's like any other logo and when was the last time you investigated a logo that you had never heard of before. Dirty magazines are drifting off the top shelf in newsagents and every second magazine aimed at women has tips on how to please their man. This is all in plain sight. The internet has become more and more accessible for everyone and if you want to seek something out, it is very possible to do so regardless of barriers put in the way.

Of course, I don't want explicit material to appear on every second stream or for people to be encouraged to visit these sites. If handled correctly and done properly, the partnership of Brazzers and members of the fighting game community could be a positive thing.

This announcement has placed the fighting game community in an awkward spot. The largest tournament, EVO, has already said that it will not be referencing the sponsor at its tournament. What other tournaments will follow suit? The Fighting Game Community is heading towards the problem that has faced eSports for years. There are no organising bodies outside of individual tournament organisers, which means that there is no way to centrally agree on something.

Formula 1, for example, was put under pressure regarding tobacco advertising years ago. Individual grand prixs would not allow it and then eventually the governing body put a rule in place. Nothing like this exists for competitive gaming. For example, rule sets are based on what has happened before, even if a change might do some good.

It's unlikely that LI|Joe will find himself unable to compete in tournaments bearing the Brazzers or BRZ tag, but what will the prize pots be like at these events? There has been a shift towards bigger events with streaming and professional coverage and professional players have linked up with eSports brands. The smaller, possibly underground, scene still exists and still allows commentators to say whatever floats into their head, trash talk, blow-ups and so on. But on the flip side, the money isn't in these events.