Current French President, Emmanuel Macron, who is pushing for re-election in tomorrow’s second round, spoke about the role which France plays in the technology and gaming field in an interview with French crypto website ‘The Big Whale’, and promised a larger role in the grand scheme of the rapidly expanding industry.
Macron spoke at length about video-gaming in the interview, calling France ‘one of the great video game nation recognized around the world for the richness of its art, the quality of its trainings and the dynamism of its industry.’ Despite this, the President also cited his wishes for even further development of the nation’s role in the field, and his hopes for France to become ‘THE country for video games’.
One significant claim which he went on to make was his wish for the nation to ‘establish a link between the two worlds’ Olympiads’ during the 2024 Olympics, which are scheduled to take place in Paris, using the ‘historic advantage’ to host e-sports events across a number of games in conjunction.
Whilst he mentioned a number of games which he wishes to incorporate, he cited his desire for a French CS:GO major specifically. As fans of the E-Sport will know, France is yet to join the limited list of countries to host a major event, with Sweden, Poland, Germany, USA, and the UK dividing the eighteen held so far since 2013. Additionally, it was only in 2019 that the nation held its first CS:GO event, with the Season Nine ‘CS:GO Pro League Finals’ taking place in Montpellier.
However, French teams and players themselves have found themselves to be more successful in the e-sport, with Team LCLC winning the DreamHack Winter Major back in 2014, though they have since began to trail behind. Team Vitality, however, who include prominent French players such as ZywOo and apEX, are ranked tenth by ESL in the global rankings, falling just short of Team Liquid.
Unfortunately, it appears unlikely that French fans will be seeing an event in-person imminently, with this being the first mention of such a possibility by either Valve or French officials, who clashed back in 2018, when Valve were fined 7,800,000 for their ‘geo-blocking’ practice.
This year’s first major is already lined up to be held in Antwerp, Belgium, next month, with the second rumoured to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who were scheduled to host ‘ESL One: Rio’, before the pandemic caused it to be cancelled back in 2020.
Additionally, it appears to be reliant on Macron’s ability to beat challenger Marine Le Pen, for who a victory is not ruled out, despite currently trailing by 10% in the polls.
This article originally featured in The Rotation.
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