Meta as a Social Contract in Competitive Play

In our article, we analyze meta as a social contract in competitive play. We argue that while in esports and competitive play the term meta is typically used in its clinical definition to refer to the optimal strategy in a given game, this use obfuscates its normative and regulative force. Through three individual cases, we demonstrate how meta is both a product and a key component of a normative system that posits players in uneven positions within the social dynamics of competitive gaming, allowing meta and its associated gaming capital to be leveraged in different ways, and even weaponized. While meta provides social cohesion, it also enforces an inevitably discriminating structure.