Summary
Esports is evolving into a highly structured performance environment where sustained focus, preparation and energy management play a critical role. Although esports may appear from the outside as simply “gaming”, it increasingly resembles elite sport. Professional players follow intensive training routines, analyse performance and optimise daily habits to remain competitive.
In this article, we explore what drives performance in professional Counter-Strike and what kind of energy matters most to the players, and how nutrition is becoming an important part of modern esports culture. Furthermore, the discussion highlights emerging opportunities for food and beverage innovation to support long-lasting cognitive and physical performance in this rapidly growing space.
In this article, we explore:
- What esports performance really looks like behind the scenes
- How professional players manage focus and energy over hours of competition
- Why consistency can decide the outcome of a match
- How nutrition strategies are evolving within esports
- What this means for the future of performance-oriented food and beverage solutions
Why my first dive into esports challenged my stereotypes profoundly
Esports was completely new territory for me. Therefore, I was keen to dive deeper into this topic. Through STATE drinks, I had the opportunity to speak with their team. Martin Rosenbæk, co-owner of the STATE Counter-Strike team, and André “Zanto” Christiansen, one of the five players. What initially started as a simple introduction quickly turned into a fascinating deep dive into a world I had never explored before. Esports are organised competitive gaming, where professional players and teams train, compete in ranked leagues and tournaments, and are judged by their performance and results.
Going into the conversation, I expected fast gameplay, quick reactions and maybe a few long hours behind a screen. However, what I discovered was something much closer to professional sport than I had imagined. Structured training. Performance pressure. And a growing focus on something I do know more about: nutrition and energy management.
First impressions: this is not just “gaming”
Very early in the conversation, Martin reframed something I hadn’t fully understood before.
“If you say ‘sport’, you need to specify which one. Otherwise, you might show up ready for football while someone else brings a tennis racket. It’s the same with esports.”
Martin Rosenbæk,
co-owner of the STATE Counter-Strike team
In their case, everything revolves around one discipline: Counter-Strike 2. And just like in traditional sports, that means deep specialisation, structured practice and continuous competition.
Martin goes on to describe how the team operates within a highly competitive ecosystem. Once you get in the top hundred, you get more invites to bigger tournaments, every match matters. Results affect rankings, visibility and future opportunities, which means focus and preparation are always non-negotiable.
A schedule I didn’t expect : Training, analysis, repetition
One of the biggest surprises for me was the intensity and structure of their daily routine. André walked me through a typical training and match day:
What struck me here is how similar this is to elite sports or even business environments:
- Review and analysis
- Repetition and execution
- Reflection and optimisation
This is not casual training. It’s a full-day commitment focused on continuous improvement.
Then come tournaments, adding another layer of complexity. Some are played online, spread over one or two weeks. Others are LAN (Local area network) tournaments, where everything happens on-site. These can involve long, physically and mentally demanding days that stretch late into the night.
Counter-Strike 2 is played in a best-of-three format. Teams compete across to three maps and need to win two to take the match. With each map lasting around 45 minutes, one match easily takes up to 3 hours of concentration. On tournament days, players may face multiple matches, short breaks and constant preparation in between.
That’s when it really clicked for me. This is not about short bursts of performance. This is about sustaining focus and energy over extremely long periods of time.
The real challenge: consistency over intensity
Before this conversation, I assumed esports was mainly about fast reactions. But both Martin and André challenged that idea.
André: “For me, it’s very important to be as stable as possible for the whole match.”
That word, stable, came up repeatedly. The real challenge isn’t peaking for a moment, but maintaining a high, consistent level of performance for hours. In such a competitive environment, even a slight drop in focus can shift the outcome.
Energy as a deciding factor
When I later asked about the biggest challenge during these long sessions, the answer was immediate and very clear:
“The big challenge is the energy level; this is where it’s a matter of percentages to decide who wins.”
What I found particularly interesting, however, was this idea of “percentages”. Matches are not lost because of dramatic mistakes. Instead, they are often decided by small, accumulated lapses in focus.
Martin reinforced this from a spectator’s perspective:
“It can all come down to one split second. If you don’t have your energy, you’re going to make mistakes.”
In other words; energy is not just physical; it also directly impacts decision-making and precision.
From energy spikes to stable performance
This is where the conversation moved towards nutrition. And I’ll admit, I had a certain stereotype in mind beforehand. Quick energy drinks, sugar boosts, greasy snacks, maybe caffeine-heavy routines. What I heard instead was surprisingly structured.
André described his personal routine:
“I usually need around 8 hours of sleep. I try to avoid the spikes and have a stable energy level during the whole session. One hour before the match I consume something to be fuelled. Most players also go to the gym or run to maintain their physique”
What stood out here is the intentionality: Not just what they consume but when and why .
Learning what works and what doesn’t
Martin shared concrete example from the past. One of the players who peaked in the beginning but after that became fatigued and crashed.
This perfectly illustrates the difference between short-term stimulation and long-term performance stability. In esports, winning often happens in map two or three, not at the start of the match. That contrast between short-term boosts and long-term stability is exactly where smarter carbohydrate solutions like Palatinose™ (isomaltulose), which is used in the STATE energy drinks, come into play. The focus shifts from quick energy to sustained, controlled energy release. And importantly, this is not theoretical. It is actively tested and adapted by players themselves.
Nutrition as a deliberate performance strategy
Martin said that not long after a nutrition session with the team, they went on to win a LAN tournament. He was careful not to credit that result to one factor alone. Nevertheless, it was clear to the team that nutrition formed part of a more structured approach to preparation.
Nothing was left to chance. The team did not just receive products; they learned how to use them properly. With support from STATE[1],they looked at timing, purpose, and individual response, treating nutrition as something to understand and optimise.
That mindset shows up in daily routines too. Similarly, André described a strong focus on consistency across sleep, meals, and what he eats or drinks before and during matches. The aim is steady performance over long sessions, not quick highs followed by crashes.
A rapidly evolving performance culture
Another strong takeaway for me was how much this world is changing. Martin reflected on how esports used to revolve around soft drinks and fast food (as I imagined in my stereotype thinking), but this has changed enormously.
- More awareness of physical health
- More structured routines
- Increasing focus on nutrition and performance
“We are professionalising our approach which opens up interesting opportunities for innovation.”
The future of food & beverage in esports: a lot of opportunities
Since the esports world still grows every year, and on the other hand Martin points out that there are still opportunities here for food and beverage, I asked him how he sees the future.
Martin was very direct about this:
“Players are becoming more aware, and the environment is not always keeping up. There are some gaps in the esports nutrition.”
He explained that especially at tournaments, practical challenges still exist. Tight schedules, limited breaks and unpredictable match timings make it difficult to access proper food. Sometimes you have half an hour in between games, that’s a short time to refuel.
In those moments, players don’t just need any food or drink.
They need something that is:
- quick to consume
- easy to handle
- and most importantly: specifically designed to support performance over time
My takeaways
This interview genuinely changed my perspective.
Ultimately, what I initially saw as a purely digital activity turned out to be a high-performance environment where:
- Focus needs to be sustained over hours
- Decisions are made under pressure
- Energy management becomes critical
And perhaps most interestingly the challenges are not so different from other performance-driven environments
For me, this first dive into esports was eye-opening. Not because it was completely different. Rather, because in many ways, it wasn’t. Whether it’s on a sports field, in a lab, or behind a screen, performance is not just about intensity, instead, it’s about consistency over time.
And that’s exactly where sustained energy solutions, like those enabled by the sustained release carbohydrate Palatinose™, have a role to play.
And for me, the next step is clear: to experience it live at a tournament and see this performance environment in action.
Key takeaways
✅ Esports is a true performance environment
Professional gaming involves structured training, analysis, preparation and constant optimisation.
✅ Sustained focus is critical
Success in Counter-Strike depends on maintaining concentration and precision over several hours.
✅ Stable energy matters more than quick boosts
Players increasingly prioritise consistent energy levels over short-lived spikes and crashes.
✅ Nutrition is becoming part of performance strategy
a strict regime on sleep, meal timing and energy management are gaining importance within professional esports.
✅ Esports creates opportunities for food and beverage innovation
Players need convenient performance-focused solutions that support long-lasting mental and physical performance.
[1] STATE is the official sponsor of the team and is a manufacturer of sports drinks designed to meet the nutritional needs of athletes.