Thanks everyone, keep them coming!
Unless the school he is applying to has a school sponsored Overwatch team (the kind of eSports team which offers scholarships, not the social hanging out in the rec center playing games type), I'd say no.
I don't think his schools have sponsored teams, just club. Although Colorado School of Mines has a team entered in the collegiate league nationals that's currently in progress.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2018/05/12/esports-the-new-football-scholarship-gaming-scholarships-grew-480-last-year/#1288d78d22a1
Depends on what school he's applying to, and major.
He's applying to Rose Hulman, University of Tulsa, and Colorado School of Mines. His major is mechanical engineering.
Probably not "list" it, but can he write a good application essay about it?
He could, but I think that would highlight it too much. I think he's already got a different topic for his essay anyway.
Does it tie in with anything else in the application, such as attending coding classes/camps, an essay about a desire to become a video game designer, coursework taken in HS about computer design/coding/video production, etc.? If so, I would say yes - but only AFTER all those type of things are mentioned. To me, that shows a person a dedication to a desired field of study. Without those other tie-ins, it just comes off as someone who goofs off a lot.
There are some other aspects about what he does that he has listed. He does video production (YouTube and Twitch). He attended an engineering summer camp at Rose Hulman. He coaches other players and teams (for free, even though he's really good - other top Overwatch players make $50 per hour coaching). He has organized tournaments.
I'd list it if you can also figure out an "elevator statement" blurb about why that makes him a good candidate for the college. Does he earn money from this? Does he travel and compete in big name events? What skill does he have that is transferable from this to the program he is applying?
He has earned money - several hundred to maybe a few thousand (he's cagey about his finances). He used to charge for coaching. He also charged for boosting, which is where people would pay him to play on their accounts and raise their account skill to a certain level or get certain in-game trinkets - but we wouldn't probably mention that because it's against Overwatch TOS. He hasn't traveled, but he was on a professional team for a while and I think they were in a tournament.
Transferable skills? Off the top of my head: coaching, mentoring, strategy, teamwork, quick decision making, sustained effort, training to reach a goal, leadership, adapting to a changing environment, clear communication, listening, video production, marketing, time management, multitasking, negotiating, building one's own computer. Probably a few others if I thought about it.
As someone who works in a college union with a nationally ranked egaming group, we are considering investing big dollars in a renovation to provide a venue for students to gather and do this, host tournaments regularly, etc - we want to know that this isn't a fad. To your question, I don't think admissions is as holistic a review of materials as you might think... but that depends on institution (mine is very large). This is certainly something that would set him apart from others with similar academic profiles who are nothin' special outside the classroom. To me, rather than showing that he sits in his room and plays on the computer all day, it shows commitment, determination, and strategy - all skills that we believe lead students to succeed. I don't think you'd need to add a statement about what he's learned from it that will make him a good student, but definitely explain what it is, see if there's a count online of how many active users to give scope to the achievement, etc. If his grades are high and he has that achievement - it also shows he has good time management and can balance his commitments.
The schools he is applying to are small (<5K students each). He's getting an IB diploma from the best private high school in the state. His GPA is about a 3.4, SAT 700/700, ACT 32.