2023-08-08 10:22:56
France has set itself a goal: to become the European leader in the e-sports sector by 2025. To achieve this, the State intends to structure and supervise the discipline even in its overseas territories. An initiative hailed by the main players in the sector despite the persistence of development inequalities between France and the Overseas Territories.
Although the practice of “e-sport” is unknown to a large part of the population, it nevertheless arouses real enthusiasm among more than 10 million French people (according to a investigation carried out by the Association France Esport and Médiamétrie).
This discipline, which materializes through the practice of video games in competition, has the particularity of precisely respecting all the characteristics of a so-called “traditional” sport. From training to the quest for performance or even respect for a certain lifestyle. The “e-sport” ecosystem, as with almost all sports, also stems from investments, both in terms of infrastructure and support for athletes.
And the difference is felt between France and overseas where many, like Tristan Brandity, president of the French Federation of Video Games (FFJV), point to the strong “disparities” et the “unequal distribution of connection and digital” in the overseas territories. To compensate for this, associations, such as Gigagames in Guadeloupe, organize with the support of local authorities, their own competitions which bring together the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean or the Pacific until they reach the American market.
In this entirely digital discipline, access to the Internet and to servers is essential. Beyond the problem linked to the internet connection, overseas players are faced with other challenges, particularly the distance from Paris. A major aspect highlighted by the president of the FFJV. At a certain level and for certain types of games, ” the 1/4 of a second of latency really disadvantages ultramarines“which constitutes a limit for overseas e-players in the face of their continental competitors.
Same story with Steven, brother and manager of Adrien Thors, professional sportsman at AS Monaco ” when “Ad’ ” (Adrien Thors) started playing against professional players, they were complaining about the latency in games. So that it does not cause controversy, we have decided to evolve“. The player from Reunion, recruited by LOSC then by AS Monaco, saw his life change completely.
For his brother, the only way to make his dream come true was to “from the island“. Under the nickname of “AdRXx”, the young Reunionese climbed all the stages before being spotted by the northern club. By chaining the competitions organized on his island, Adrien Thors quickly felt that he had a card to play in the video game competition.However, he did not have the stereotypical profile of the player constantly in front of his screen.But his passion and the praise received very quickly convinced him to professionalize his activity.
Better and better supervised in the overseas territories, video game associations are constantly developing, thanks in particular to local authorities which support and finance part of the competitions organised.
Bringing together hundreds of players during their events, the associative collectives are constantly evolving and present players on the international scene. This is for example the case of GigaGames, a member association of the Guadeloupe Esport federation which brings together between 300 and 500 players at each event. For the other overseas territories, the competitions are also growing, this is the case for the Martinican association Lan.Est.Party which organizes the Madaou festival or the Volcano Gaming Tour in Reunion.
And among these growing collectives, all recognize the importance of local support. For Samuel Jourson, president of Giga’Games, member of the Guadeloupe Esports Federation, ” their support (ndrl of local authorities) is very strong, they recognize esport as such”. For the president of the French Federation of Video Games, “it’s much more than that“. He believes that the Overseas “are an example in terms of their relationship with their communities“. The associative aspect, linked to the proximity between the population and the communities would be more powerful on the overseas territories, which would attenuate the cruel lack of visibility on certain practices. In addition, the overseas players are subject to import taxes which cause the prices of consoles and computer components to explode.This is where local authorities also come in by freeing up budgets or making equipment available.
There is this “association” side that we are losing in esports with all the economic side of profitability and marketing, and that affects us directly. This is one of the reasons why OMs struggle to have visibility. It’s more complicated to reach big partners. On the other hand, it is easier to reach the local authorities in the MOs. There is really a great closeness between these two parts
Tristan Brandily – President of the FFJV
And France intends to invest in this area. President Macron received the professional players at the Élysée this year, as a sign of recognition. ” It’s a good start” for the Guadeloupean Samuel Jourson who now expects more in-depth supervision of the players, on the legal and social level. For their part, even if the players in the world of video games expect more in the Overseas Territories, they do not hesitate to to do everything for ten years to not be dependent on the actions of France.
Even if we are part of the French group and geographically, we are distant, whether at the level of the servers which are located in America, we do everything to organize ourselves as Caribbean to be present on the international scene.
Samuel Jourson – President of GigaGames – Guadeloupe e-sport federation
And this recognition, ” which will take time“for the manager of Reunionese Adrien Thors, will also go through the collective awareness of the effort to be made during games of video games at an ultra-competitive level.
Make no mistake about it, professional video game players have nothing to envy to other athletes” especially on the sacrifices required by high-level sport. From a physical point of view first of all “, each event in the virtual world requires preparation and requires a great capacity for concentration and regularity. For Samuel Jourson ” a player who comes out of a competition against a player of very good level will feel as much fatigue as in a “traditional” sports discipline “. For him, ” adrenaline and concentration can create as much expenditure in the player as a normal athlete“.
Also from a moral point of view, the President of the Guadeloupe association, adds that they “follow the same values“such as respect for the adversary, commitment to great causes such as the fight against racism and xenophobia.
E-sport makes it possible to make a population so proud to wear the colors of its flag in a competition. Whether in esports or physical practice, the public support is also strong when players win and represent the country.
Samuel Jourson, President of GigaGames
For now, the ultramarines continue to shine internationally thanks to their performances like Jiren and ML9 who will represent Guadeloupe at the world championships in Romania to face the best international players on Tekken or E-football (ex PES, football game) from August 24 to September 4, 2023.
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