Peculiarities of professionalism development in esports

The purpose of the article is to analyze professional self-actualization and self-regulation in esports at different stages of a professional career. Semi-structured interviews with novice and professional esports athletes and theoretical analysis of scientific literature comprised the methods. This methodology uses A. A. Derkach’s acmeological ideas to examine the problems of professionalism. The research result is the identification of self-regulation and coping ability as a key role in long-term success in esports. Effective programs for training, developing, and supporting esports athletes at all career levels could be further developed using these research results. The research findings have potential utility not only for esports athletes, but also for coaches, psychologists, and experts in acmeology.