Weaving the author's own lived experience with theoretical insights from the fields of game studies, psychology, and anthropology, Esport Play probes and advances current gaming topics such as addiction, skill development, and toxicity. With a focus on League of Legends – one of the flagship esports of our time – Karhulahti explicates what esport play is: documenting and identifying competitive play as a present-day means to satisfy basic human needs. Ultimately, the book presents a theory of psycholudic development that explains and organizes the development of player-play relationships that may last for years.

Veli-Matti Karhulahti works as a Senior Researcher in University of Jyväskylä, Finland and as an Adjunct Professor in University of Turku, Finland. He has studied play, games, and the human mind in places such as Yonsei University (Korea), IT University of Copenhagen / Royal Danish Academy (Denmark), and the MIT (US). His interdisciplinary research has been published in various leading journals of diverse fields like Game Studies, Design Issues, Media, Culture & Society, Philosophy & Technology, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, and Games & Culture.