Is a bootcamp necessary in eSports? Explore the pros and cons of bootcamps in eSports and decide if this form of training is right for your team.

Is a Bootcamp Necessary in eSports?

Many professional eSports organizations organize bootcamps for their teams, often this happens during pre-season training, qualifications for the main event or already preparation for the final stage of the tournament, after passing the selection. Not everyone can afford bootcamps, and until a certain time, they simply did not see any need for them or did not attach importance to them, let’s think about whether a bootcamp is needed in eSports?

Prerequisites for the emergence of Bootcamps 

Initially, bootcamps in eSports (in the early 2000s, few people called them that) could be in absolutely different places. If we take the Asian region, namely South Korea and China, for example, special dormitories for players were created there (this is also happening now), where they trained and played qualifiers for tournaments. They had a certain daily routine there, and in addition to training in games, they also conducted physical education and health exercises. 

South Korea can be said to have started the trend in the development of eSports, back in 2000 the government created the Korean eSports Association, better known as KeSPA, and in 2005 the first stadium for hosting eSports events was built. Actually,  Game Coach Academy,  a large  academy for training eSports disciplines.

If we move to the CIS region, then bootcamps at the early stage could be considered joint gatherings in computer clubs (some modern clubs have separate rooms for bootcamps), computer science rooms (teachers allowed pairs to conduct training in preparation for school tournaments) and home conditions (a lot of things were needed for this).

Why do you need an eSports bootcamp? 

Whether you are new to esports or not, a bootcamp can help you hone your knowledge, skills, and communication skills with teamwork.

For a long time, eSports was a kind of underground activity, when gamers played in tournaments in local computer clubs, some of them became famous in their gaming communities, which later led to the creation of teams and the attraction of young talents to more or less well-known tags.

In recent years, competitive gaming has moved from small gaming clubs and other venues to major arenas around the world, attracting millions of spectators.

A bootcamp is primarily needed for personal contact between players, because being close to each other allows you to quickly resolve misunderstandings and team strategy, as well as train and play while avoiding factors that can distract from preparation and ruin your mood.

With the help of a bootcamp, it will be much easier to teach young teams how to communicate with each other in person, as well as discuss mistakes and strategies, and instill in them a much greater desire to reach a professional level.

Conditions, pros and cons of bootcamp

The main conditions for a bootcamp are: good internet, electricity (I remember one time when Navi’s electricity went out and they had to go to a club to play), training and game rooms, a bedroom, relaxation areas, a cook, a psychologist, maintaining the cleanliness of the premises, etc. 

It is worth noting right away that the bootcamp does not affect the result completely, because there were cases when players lost their gaming mood and enthusiasm because of the bootcamp, as a result of which they could completely fail the selection for the tournament, turning into a kind of ” lazy cats “, the organization itself that paid for the bootcamp was considered to be throwing money down the drain, because they expected better results. 

Bootcamp can also, on the contrary, give a lot of positive things, the team spirit at bootcamp is felt very strongly, discussions of your mistakes can help to avoid them in the future and of course the moment of euphoria after passing to a tournament or winning an online tournament.

he negative aspect of bootcamp may be that some players may quarrel with each other and start blaming their teammates for a bad result, not themselves. There have been cases when people playing online met on LAN or bootcamp after some time, and there was no positive chemistry between them in person, but rather irritation from the presence of one or another player. Such cases happen, as they say, because their characters did not get along or someone might not like that they were taught to play and were commanded a lot, but then it is worth asking the question, why play at all and strive for a professional level if stress resistance and live communication are not adapted?

Conclusion

There should be a professional level bootcamp, but you need to understand that the result will depend on good team play, because you can qualify and win an online tournament while sitting at home without any bootcamp, so as not to waste the organization’s time and money, but a bootcamp can give a lot of positive emotions and give an impetus to become better, memorable moments. Teach how to communicate with each other and ways to solve problems, because during your stay at the bootcamp you must understand that you are not just colleagues, acquaintances and friends, but a kind of family with a common goal and you can achieve it with joint efforts.