It's possible, according to Duane Mutu, the Director of Let's Play Live.
Let's Play Live launched New Zealand's first eSports studio at Auckland's Sky Tower on Wednesday, with the studio set to host Australasia's top gamers in international eSports events.
ESports is an onlinecompetition between gamers, normally in the form of organised multiplayer video games, which are then live-streamed or broadcast to viewers.
Despite regular debate as to whether eSports should be considered a sporting code, Mutu said "it was absolutely a sport" with professional gamers demonstrating skills at the same level as Formula One.
"It is looking to be a medalled sport in 2024, so all the roads lead to it being a sport from what you'd perceive it to be," Mutu told the Herald.
"When you look at the players themselves and how good they have to be and the reaction times, there's a lot of research around the fact that a lot of the top PC players who play games such as Dota and League of Legends, their reaction times are just as good as F1."
One of New Zealand's top eSports gaming personalities Zac Woodham - better known as 'Hazz' - said there were many aspects to eSports gaming that were similar to high-performance sport.
Zac Woodman 'Hazz' is New Zealand's biggest eSports personality. Photo / NZ Herald
"It's very similar to sport in a competitive sense where it's two teams [against] each other in a tournament format," he said.
"The competitive side and the growth of it at the moment, it's been compared to sport a lot."
"Obviously it doesn't have the physical aspect to it, which is people's main argument about it, but the dedication and hours that people put in and the teamwork and the competitiveness people have in regular sport is really similar to eSports."
The 20-year-old, who specialises in playing Counter Strike: Global Offensive, said the opening of the LPL eSports Studio was big for the New Zealand eSports community.
"It's huge, it's the first thing we've had because New Zealand is not usually involved in that kind of thing - but I'm really happy that we're finally pushing into something for the first time. It'll be huge for New Zealand," Woodham told the Herald.
ESports was predicted to become the biggest sport in the world. Photo / Getty
"The studio is the main starting point which is the biggest thing. Comparable to events that I've been to, the studio is top notch, it's seriously cool."
Woodham, who has played over 6,500 hours of Counter Strike in his career, quit his daily restaurant job when his eSports career took off in 2016 and is now considered a professional eSports player.
He has more than 370,000 subscribers on YouTube and is a member of the world's most subscribed gaming organisation.
ESports participation and popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, with more than 170,000 spectators present at the 2017 World Championships.
"The events that are being held at the moment are pulling crazy numbers, the numbers are insane," said Woodham.
