Social issues in esports: Current and emerging trends in research

This chapter examines current and emerging trends in research on social issues in esports. It’s based on database searches in SPORTDiscus, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, in combination with analyses of literature reviews of specific forms of social issues. A total of 63 peer-reviewed publications are analysed. As an academic field, social issues in esports is a young field. The analysed studies barely span two decades, where 49 of the publications were published between 2018 and 2022. A main finding is that current literature tends to focus more on issues related to gender, gaming addiction, and mental health, while research on integrity issues, violence, racism, and social inequality represents emerging trends in academic explorations of esports. Hence, there are many knowledge gaps to be filled in research on social issues in esports.