The next episode of The Simpsons sees Bart becoming an esports star
The 30-year-old show tackles competitive gaming
It's been a while since South Park lampooned gamers with its 'Make Love, Not Warcraft' episode, and now The Simpsons is doing its own spin on modern gaming by positioning Bart as a rising esports star. The long-running cartoon's next episode will see Bart Simpson compete in a made-up game called Conflict of Enemies during a trip to South Korea. The episode, dubbed 'E My Sports' turns Bart and Homer into player and coach as Bart excels in the League of Legends-like game.
Promotional stills of the episode show Bart competing against other kids from Springfield and practicing in his very own gaming chair - he's even got a tiny bit of scruff so you know the producers are serious about their depiction of esports stars. They even consulted with Riot Games in order to get an "accurate representation" of the culture, according to esports writer Rod Breslau.
It looks like we'll even see Bart and the rest of the crew featured inside of Conflict of Enemies, according to a tweet by Simpsons writer Al Jean. Bart's adventures in the virtual world might lead him and Homer into trouble, as Lisa tries to "bring Homer back to reality, but the plan causes chaos," according to the episode's official description. Here's hoping Bart has Twitch chat turned off while he's grinding out games.
'E My Sports,' episode 17 of season 30, airs on Sunday, March 17 at 8pm EST on Fox. We'll also see two guest stars: Natasha Lyonne and Ken Jeong.
Looking for more Simpsons content to digest while you wait? Check out our list of the best Simpsons episodes.
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Aron Garst is a journalist and writer exploring the future of games and interactivity. Follow him on X at @GarstProduction.
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