- France will finally host a CS:GO Major
- Macron congratulated the participants of the Zevent charity streaming event
- He also announced Trackmania will be coming to France in 2024
French president Emmanuel Macron announced that next year France will be hosting its first-ever international CS:GO tournament.
BLAST Major Coming to France
Paris will become the next major European city to host a BLAST Premier’s 2023 CS:GO Major. Despite France fielding some of the best CS: GO teams in the world, this event will be the first time ever an international event has been hosted in the country. The news was announced by non-other than the president of France himself, Emmanuel Macron.
In a short update video on Twitter, the French president talked about the challenges brought on by severe the draughts that hit Europe this year, and how streamers are trying to help. He congratulated the many participants of ZEvent, a charity streaming event that was hosted during the weekend. This year, the streamers chose to donate to four non-profit organizations linked to ecology.
The French president ended his short video with another positive note. He said that in less than 10 months France will host the BLAST TV Major Counter-Strike.
Macron Is a Big Supporter of Esports
France’s first ever international CS:GO tournament will be held in Bercy, Macron noted. It is a 20 000-seat venue that already has a history with esports, hosting the 2019 League of Legends World Championship.
BLAST Premier hosting a Major in Paris boasts well for competitive CS:GO, as the sport finds a new foothold in Europe. The fact that the announcement was made by such a high-profile politician as president Macron also shows just how much esports has grown as an industry over the past few years.
This is not the first time the French president has talked about esports. Earlier this year, Macron talked said he wants to see esports as part of the 2024 Olympics. He explained that as part of the first generation to grow up with video games, he understands that videogame sports are already here to stay and will only grow from now on.
The BLAST Premier Major is not the only big esports event that France will host in the near future. Macron also announced that Trackmania Games are also coming to the country in 2024. “We believe that playing together is making us closer and we are excited to and grateful for the support we received from French institutions in reaching this goal,” Trackmania thanked the president on Twitter.
France has fielded some of the best CS:GO players, like Richard “shox” Papillon and Kenny “kennyS” Schrub, so France hosting a big CS:GO tournament was long overdue.
