- It wants to work together with publishers, TOs, and teams
- French president Emmanuel Macron is a firm supporter of the idea
- France has already implemented laws to help grow esports
France aims to build a “national esports ecosystem” in an attempt to make the country more attractive ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
France’s Esports Association Holds Important Press Conference
The past few years have seen esports across all kinds of different disciplines rise immensely in popularity. As the industry grows more and more, it is getting recognized by larger bodies, even by national governments. One such government is that of France, a country that is aiming to create a “national esports ecosystem”.
France’s Esports association recently had a press release gathering esports personalities, as well as the Minister of Sports and Deputy Minister of digital transition in Paris. The subject of the press conference was the development of a regulated industry of national esports which is going to be revealed next summer, France Esports President Désiré Koussawo said.
The aim is to make France into a leading “esports nation” by 2024 when the country will also host the Olympic games. This will coincide with France’s president Emmanuel Macron’s desire to have esports play an important part in the 2024 Olympic games. A few months ago, the president said that the country can create a strong esports ecosystem by educating people and institutions on the industry, and strengthening communication between companies, esports organizations, and the government.
“We have a great opportunity with the 2024 Olympic games. It is up to link the Olympiads of the two worlds by hosting the biggest sporting events in the world that year: a CS:GO Major, the Worlds of League of Legends, and The International of Dota 2,” Macron said in an interview for French technology outlet The Big Whale. “If French people trust me, we will work on it as soon as I am elected.”
France Is Stimulating Esports
Out of all European nations, France is one of the most suitable to create such an esports ecosystem, The country’s capital has seen many important esports events, like being the host city of the 2015 League Worlds group stage. In 2019, Paris hosted the Worlds finals at Accor Arena in 2019 when FunPlus Phoenix defeated European juggernaut G2 Esports to win the tournament.
Meanwhile, the city’s most popular soccer club, Paris Saint-Germain F.C., is in a partnership with Chinese esports organization LGD Gaming. This has resulted in two second-place finishes for PSG.LGD at The International in 2018 and 2021.
On a national level, esports players can now apply for a visa dedicated to “talents” to compete in France for several years. Before that change was implemented, players could only apply for tourism visas or work visas, which often led to delays in players competing in official leagues, such as League of Legends‘ LFL.
France’s esports talents themselves are also working on establishing a strong national esports ecosystem. One such popular player is shox, who revealed his new CS:GO team. The legendary player has created this team for competing in the upcoming BLAST Premier Paris Major, which is itself a great opportunity for France to show its esports prowess to the world.
With the government and the French president himself endorsing the idea of creating a national esports sphere, it seems that the country’s future in esports looks bright.
