Ever since shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation, faux documentaries have been a very popular medium, and one that can go very right or very wrong. The latest offering from Paramount Plus follows a fictional eSports team competing in League of Legends tournaments, and aiming to make it big in the world of eSports. With the first episode dropping on June 16th, a few reviews of the show have already made it to the Internet. Will this be worth watching?

eSports is huge, there is no denying it. With major tournaments involving League of Legends, DOTA2, Halo, and more, there is big money to be made, big money to be gambled, and big trophies to win. And it’s fueled by sponsorships like you wouldn’t believe. eSports betting iis on the rise and pages like gg.bet/en/esports, mirroring the rise in gabling across regular sports. But now the sport is moving into the television space, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it!

Players’ follows the life of an eSports team called Fugitive Gaming. The team is composed of a few unique individuals, although the show focuses mostly on CreamCheese, the de facto captain and leader of the team. It follows the team through the 2021 eSports League of Legends season. CreamCheese has been playing professionally for about six years, and while one of the more popular individuals in the business, he has never won a championship.

By all accounts, the show does well to mimic what an eSports team looks like in 2022. There are lots of things to consider, including the team composition, ad dollars, revenues, and more. It’s not just about sitting down and playing games. You need to pay for equipment, coaches, sometimes accommodations, and more. One of the show’s key plot points is the introduction of a new player to the team who is wildly popular on Twitch, and brings with him lots of advertisement revenue. This inclusion creates a rift between the teams captain and the owner / president, which only makes the entire faux documentary that much more appealing.

As the team maneuvers the highs and lows of the League of Legends season, it will be fun to see how their dynamic relationships play out. By all accounts, the show actually does an excellent job recreating the average season for an eSports team. While being entertaining, the show is also somewhat educational for those who perhaps haven’t really explored the realm of eSports. I’m excited to see what is in store for the show, will you be taking a look?

There is no denying that eSports is becoming so much more popular. There are major tournaments happening on a weekly and monthly basis, some of which are even running for weeks on end. Now with the move to television, eSports might actually hit the mainstream. While it would be nice to see something like this available widely to a large audience via YouTube or Twitch, at least it can still exist on the paid streaming platform, Paramount Plus. Ideally, however, if we want to bring the conversation of eSports to the masses, we need to find ways to make content like this more available. Ultimately, however, it will be more exciting to see how this show is received by the gaming community. Does it accurately reflect the lives of those who live the eSports scene? Will the games played and the strategies used actually make sense? There is so much to unpack with this release, and it’s going to be an absolute blast.

Even the critics are raving!