Too Many LANs? The Hidden Toll of Tournament Oversaturation

After the COVID pandemic, Counter-Strike LAN tournament schedules are back to the point of potential oversaturation. For players, this often means jumping on a plane at the end of one tournament to compete in another, in some cases less than 24h later. The jet lag that comes with it may negatively impact their performance and health. Research on the matter is limited, but here is what it tells us.

Counter Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO) has been the longest-running and most successful installment, and one of the most prominent competitive gaming franchises. The 2023 released Counter Strike 2 (CS2) has paved the way for both veteran and new players and teams to foster and thrive in a robust competitive environment. LAN events are a particularly important cornerstone in this ecosystem.

International LAN tournaments offer several benefits for players and teams competing in them. First, competitive rankings: Offline events hold greater value compared to online tournaments. Teams that perform well offline are more likely to be invited to future events. Second, this leads to potential monetary gains (exposure, sponsors, prize money etc.).

"All these factors have the effect of compelling teams to travel extensively and engage in multiple international competitions throughout the year." [1]

The figure below shows the number of LAN events since 2017, sorted by regions.

As you can see, in 2018 and 2019, the total number of offline CS tournaments came out to be 54. This means that there was more than one per week.

As a consequence, players are required to travel more, particularly between continents, causing them fatigue and jet lag. Looking at reports from professional players—e.g., interviews or statements released by teams—the impact of travel, and particularly jet lag, on their performance became clearer. For instance, in 2019...

"... six teams participating in ESL One: New York arrived after competing at Dreamhack Malmo, with the winners of Dreamhack Malmo (Evil Geniuses) and runners-up (Astralis) departing the venue immediately after the grand final. These teams flew to the US and were scheduled to compete in their first match the day after arriving." [1]

When looking at the performance of these six teams, all of them were outperformed by lower-tier teams. In an interview at ESL One: New York, an Astralis player mentioned to feeling physically drained and unable to focus due to jet lag.

Moreover, in 2019 before IEM Beijing-Haidian, Team Liquid withdrew from the tournament stating players were being exhausted from extensive travel and jet lag throughout the year. More specifically, traveling to tournaments across 200 days had a negative impact on their mental state. This sentiment was later echoed in a pre-game interview the same event by an Ence player, and talents on air—expressing the need to develop effective strategies to address jet lag.

📉 The Negative Effects of Jet Lag

Although research has shed light on the factors that drive jet lag in traditional sports such as light exposure, travel direction, time zones, hydration, and travel duration, the variables that affect esports players remain unclear. But why would that be important?

"[We, as the viewers, want to watch top-level performance, but] inadequate sleep could impair reaction time and visual processing speed, creating a competitive disadvantage for professional players." [1]

This is not only frustrating, I'd imagine, for these extremely competitive individuals, the teams, and organizations, but also for us who can't experience the best of the best showing their A-level.

"[We also know that] jet lag, a form of circadian misalignment, has been linked to impairments in decision-making and executive functioning, which may increase the risk of errors during high-pressure gameplay" [1]

Right now, we're on pace to get back to a level of oversaturation of LAN tournaments and high-frequency travel of esports athletes. The figure below highlights the currently scheduled events for 2025.

Noteworthy, the PGL in Kazakhstan will conclude May 18th, while the ESL tournament in Texas will commence just one day (or 11h) later. Another example is IEM Chengdu in November, concluding on the 9th, and Skyesports World Tour commencing on November 10th.

🥡 The Takeaways

Although, we can't do much about it, we can be aware of some of the sacrifices and obligations that come with being a professional player. Moreover, as the researchers highlight, we need more research that not only looks at the link between jet lag and esports performance, but also at interventions to mitigate the negative effects on health and well-being. But for now, happy CS2 watching.

Read ya'll next Sunday.

Christian 🙂

References

[1] Irwin et al., 2025