Gaming: when Call of Duty conflict isn't just virtual

If you like to play computer games with a headset on, then there’s a chance that you’re probably already taking things a little too seriously.

However a video report on games website Eurogamer showing inside the gaming room at a Call of Duty eSports competition reveals that the headset is just the beginning. Imagine two groups of young men sitting at computers shouting, cursing and screaming at each other until their foul-mouthed insults spiral into a garbled mess of grunting sounds.

“That was right up your f**king arghabubble” and “I’m the f**king daddy mugga fuggurks” should give you an impression of the dialogue, which at several moments seems close to breaking into actual, real-life, non-gaming violence (see inset left). Office techno-rage is distinctly mild-mannered by comparison.

According to the players, the relentless trash talk helps pump them up, while psyching out the opponents. An Electronic Sports League spokesman said it is “no different to sports such as football and rugby, where competitive spirit and banter are part of the mind games that take place between teams.”

The only difference being, football is real.

Watch it here: goo.gl/FCrqd