‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎ Taylor has given us a great account of an exciting part of gaming culture‎.‎ ‎-‎- Faltin Karlsen While Raising the Stakes fits neatly within the gaming studies or media studies genres‎,‎ it is also an exciting and novel contribution to the growing body of work in what might be termed global technology studies‎.‎ ‎-‎- Jenna Burrell Contemporary Sociology Raising the Stakes is a must not only for game studies but also media and internet studies researchers as a wonderfully nuanced study of century‎-first digital play‎-based in DIY‎,‎ grassroots ideology‎-in the face of burgeoning leisure commercialization‎.‎ Play on‎.‎ Game Studies Esports is a fascinating collision of new technology and culture with traditional sports structure‎,‎ and is a phenomenon that could only happen in the present‎.‎ There is a growing body of research around the growing esports phenomenon‎,‎ and this book provides a great primer into the academic perspective on the emerging culture‎.‎ In my opinion‎,‎ this is the book to refer anyone to who is interested in understanding esports ‎-‎- for both newcomers and veterans‎.‎ ‎-‎- Timothy Young Day9 Taylor‎'‎s book is a valuable piece of scholarship that lays the groundwork for further investigation into all aspects of video games as sport and players as athletes‎.‎ ‎-‎- Steve Jacobs American Journal of Play