E-sport in physical education: A systematic review

Background: Research shows that new technologies have increased the tendency to use electronic sports in physical education activities. Studies on physical education activities and e-sports are relatively new and scattered in their focus. However, universities and professionals are growing interested in further research in this area. pose of this study is to systematically review the research done in e-sports and physical education. Materials and Methods: A search was made using EBSCO, Scopus, and Web of Science databases to collect information on the articles. More than 250 scientific articles from 2000 to 2024 were reviewed. The keywords used were: ( Internet sports or electronic sports or online sports or virtual sports or E-sport) and ( physical training or sports training or fitness training or Exercise instruction or Sports education or physical education ). After removing duplicates, 200 articles were screened by reviewing titles and abstracts, resulting in the exclusion of 100 articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria related to integrating electronic sports and physical education. The full texts of the remaining 100 articles were assessed, leading to the exclusion of 36 more articles due to insufficient data or lack of relevance, leaving 64 articles selected for detailed analysis based on their comprehensive coverage and relevance to the study. Then, the selected items were fully studied and finalized, and the items that were more complete than the others were chosen as references. Conclusion: The study identified critical organizational, technological, individual, and environmental factors influencing the implementation of e-sports. It also highlighted nine mediators’ factors essential for effective execution. Strategies like gamification, e-sport fitness challenges, cross-training, team building, health education, e-sport analysis, and smartening education were proposed to support the model’s implementation. The expected outcomes of applying this model in physical education include improved cognitive skills, increased physical activity, enhanced social interaction, inclusivity, and technology skill integration. The study emphasizes that considering these factors and strategies will aid in successfully implementing the conceptual model.