The Grand Final in London, which was held from 16 to 18 August 2017, heralded the end of the FIFA Interactive World Cup and crowned the British winner Spencer Ealing, alias ‘Gorilla’.
What are we talking about? Simple, the most eagerly awaited tournament for all lovers of eSports, i.e. videogame sports that you can play from the comfort of your sofa, and in particular FIFA, the game from EA Sports which faithfully reproduces football on the screen and which has won over young people from around the globe.
Despite the fact that many people are still unaware of the increasing spread of this type of sport, others are already trying to turn their passion into a profession. Just to give an example, ‘Gorilla’ himself earned 200,000 dollars thanks to his victory.
The figure is of course a long way from the stratospheric sums we have become used to in real football, but it certainly gives us an idea of the growth of the phenomenon of eSports, above all if we consider that since the first edition of the tournament, the prize for the top teams – up to the 2016 edition – was just 20,000 dollars. So, in just one season the prize fund for FIWC saw its value grow by 90%, a sign of the fact something is really changing.
It is therefore no coincidence that the Olympic Council of Asia has decided in recent months to admit eSports to the Asian Games for the first time, at the 2022 edition which will be held in Hangzhou in South China: a great step forward for all the followers of this sport which will perhaps lead to its introduction in the Olympic Games.
But if FIFA’s international tournaments are giving increasing space to amateur players from around the world, the number of professional football clubs is also growing and starting to take on the best ‘video football’ players and to create real teams of video players.
It is clear that football is following a completely new path when it comes to technology – are you ready to take up this new challenge for the FIFA 2018 edition?