So how do you do, fellow kids? Gaming came to the Commonwealth Games on Saturday, in the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships. It was a two-day exhibition event at the International Convention Centre and it posed all sorts of interesting questions. Like what was it about this multi-million participant multi-billion dollar industry that persuaded the ailing Commonwealth Games Federation they ought to bring it into the fold along with squash and lawn bowls?
Thankfully, the CGF’s chief executive, Katie Sadleir, was on hand to explain. “We want to be edgy, we want to be relevant and we want to embrace new sports.”
Sports like Rocket League. Which is 3x3 football played by turbo-charged flying cars. They had 109 players from 20 different territories enter this Championships, but most of them had been knocked out in the qualifying rounds. So now it was down to the two medal matches, one between Australia and South Africa for the bronze, the other between England and Wales for the gold.
Wales, who had brought a few dozen fans with them, won handily. So let history show the first Commonwealth esports champions were George Rusiecki, Owain Lloyd Lamb and Euan Ingram, better known as Breezi, Foxy and Tadpole.
It was a desperate business, though. It wasn’t the gaming, which is as good a way as any to spend your screen time, or the players, who were mostly teenagers, it was all the executives trying to get in on the action.
The CGF has teamed up with a non-profit organisation called the Global Esports Federation, which was founded in 2019. The GEF seems to be one of a number of bodies (there is also the International Esports Federation) which has decided what esports really needs if it’s going to be legitimate is some old people
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