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The Commonwealth Games Federation has opted to embrace esports at a time when gaming’s place among more traditional sports remains up for debate. Eliott Brennan discovers that Birmingham is positioning itself as an esports capital.

The Global Esports Federation is due to reach a major landmark in August when the eyes of the Commonwealth turn to esports for the first time in history.

The inaugural Commonwealth Esports Forum and Commonwealth Esports Championships, both of which are due to be held at the International Convention Centre, will run alongside the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as separate events.

Paul Foster, the chief executive of the GEF, explained that the Forum, scheduled to be held first on August 5, will open the celebrations with people from across the community gathering to discuss the future of esports as well as the role it has in society.

Topics covered will stretch from health and well-being to youth and education.

Several keynote speeches and a series of panel discussions are also expected to dive into varying topics, such as what esports means to the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and the players.

Attention is also expected to be drawn to the place of esports in business, innovation and technology.

The Championships will take place across the following two days and, according to Foster, as many as 27 countries and roughly 250 athletes could take part.

The competition will be independent of the Birmingham 2022 sporting programme, meaning it will have its own branding and medals.

Dota 2, the eFootball series and Rocket League have been confirmed as the games for the Championships, with each title featuring an open and a women’s category.

None of this would have been possible without the signing of a strategic partnership between the GEF and the Commonwealth Games Federation in May 2020, which laid the foundation for the Forum and Championships to be staged.

It is hoped that the inaugural occasion will offer the chance for esports to stamp its ground, while making waves of impact and establishing a formidable legacy.

Foster said he hopes the events will create a “closer understanding” between esports and those who may remain sceptical of its place among other more traditional disciplines.

“I remember a time, maybe even a year or so ago, where we used to talk about sport and esports as two different universes almost,” he said.

“What we have realised during the pandemic, where we have been forced to come together and connect, is this notion that we are more similar than different.

“As humans we are not single tasked people. We like to do lots of different things.

ELIOTT BRENNAN JUNIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

The West Midlands has signed a 10-year partnership with the Global Esports Federation. Photo: WMGC

“If we are able to achieve that level of understanding, that would almost be a great human and community legacy besides the physical legacy that will come from bringing people together and creating opportunities within industry and business.”

Esports proved its audience potential at the Singapore 2021 Global Esports Games, with the flagship competition attracting in excess of 500 million viewers.

However, the GEF is not lying back and simply sitting on this figure.

It is aiming bigger for this year’s edition of the Games in Istanbul, and has set an ambitious viewer target of one billion.

Capitalising on every opportunity, including the upcoming Forum and Championships, will be key for the GEF if it is to be successful in growing esports as rapidly as it aims to.

This means breaking into new markets and convincing people that they are, in some way, part of the community even if they may not realise it.

Swimming Olympian Alice Dearing exhibited her passion for esports at the signing of the West Midlands Esports Alliance event in June, which saw the British region and the GEF launch a 10-year strategic framework agreement.

In a short speech, she described esports as “the next big form of entertainment” and insisted there are plenty of people “who are gamers but don’t realise they are gamers”. She highlighted the mobile sensation Candy Crush Saga as an example of this.

Foster predicted that the Championships and Forum will “organically” create a space for the media to talk to the GEF about esports and for the wider community to interact with gamers.

“The staging of those events will create its own momentum and excitement,” he said.

“What we have experienced is that people in the community, once we have created that space, they will shape it for themselves.”

The GEF is not the only stakeholder looking to leave a meaningful legacy, as the West Midlands aspires to use the Championships and Forum as a pivotal moment in their long-term investment in esports.

The region has been a major destination for sporting events in recent years, with the World Indoor Athletics Championships, the World Gymnastics Championships, the Cricket World Cup and the All England Badminton Championships among the competitions to have been held in the area.

Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward told insidethegames that the ambition is “to see the technology industry grow in the West Midlands” and for Birmingham to become a “force of nature” in hosting esports events in the future.

“The potential of these events is huge given you get literally hundreds of millions of people watching online from around the world, so it is again another opportunity to place this city on the international platform,” Ward said.

The decade-long deal between the West Midlands and the GEF, which is led by the West Midlands Growth Company, will give the region a major boost in both of Ward’s goals, it is hoped.

As a part of the agreement, the West Midlands will be given the chance to stage the Global Esports Tour from 2023 to 2026, and it may bid to host the Global Esports Games in 2027-2028.

It has also resulted in the region joining the likes of Singapore, Dubai, Istanbul and Los Angeles in the network of global esports hubs.

A range of initiatives concerning education, health and the future of work

ELIOTT BRENNAN JUNIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Birmingham could soon turn into an esports capital. Photo: Getty Images are due to be launched alongside a regional GEF Innovation and Research Centre, in a bid to drive collaboration between West Midlands universities and the private sector.

There are plenty of reasons for the area to be keen to push the esports and gaming industry, given the size of it in the region.

It is the home of developers like Ubisoft, Playground, Codemasters and Sega Hardlight, and it produces a quarter of the United Kingdom’s output in the sector.

A total of 130 games companies are based in the West Midlands, with the sector employing more than 3,000 games professionals.

The UK gaming market was valued at £7.16 billion in 2021, around 3.5 per cent of the global value.

Worldwide value reached $198.4 billion last year, and it is anticipated to grow to an eyewatering estimated figure of $339.95 billion by 2027.

The sector is even more enticing as 37 per cent of Birmingham’s population is under the age of 25 - meaning it is one of the youngest cities in Europe.

“The very fact that we have a very youthful population, a population that is very innovative, means that this is a real opportunity for us to grow the industry here across the city region and to create additional jobs in the future because Birmingham is a growing city,” Ward said to insidethegames.

“We expect to have 150,000 more Brummies by the end of this decade than we have now.

“We’ve obviously got to lead in investment and create the jobs for those extra people that will be living with us in 10 years’ time.

“This is an industry that I believe has huge potential to grow.”

For athletes from travelling countries, the Forum and Championships present a different type of opportunity.

This is certainly the case for Malaysian Esports Federation President Dato Ananth S.Nathan.

Malaysia, who made their mark at the delayed Hanoi 2021 Southeast Asian Games in May by claiming three bronze medals, is one of the nations due to compete at the Commonwealth Esports Championships.

Their ambition is ensuring that gamers encounter various distinctive sporting and cultural experiences, which will hold them in good stead for the future.

“Any experience is educational, be it good or bad,” Dato Ananth said.

“They are both experiences.

“The events are a platform for everyone to exhibit the best of their talents.

“The target is to show your best, to experience your best and to share your experience for the future upcoming generations.

“Our athletes may have had the experience of playing their neighbours in their states or neighbouring states or neighbouring countries.

“For instance, we were in Hanoi for the Southeast Asian Games.

“There they had the experience of playing internationally. But there, the culture, the food, the environment and the climate is much the same.

“There is a similarity in language as well.

“If you bring them across to the other part of the world, it is actually a fresh exposure.”

Moving forward, a successful showcase of the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships and Forum could turn the wind in the GEF’s favour as attention eventually switches to Victoria 2026.

The CGF committed to more engagement with esports in its Commonwealth Sport strategic roadmap for 2026 to 2030, although it is unclear what exactly this entails.

For the moment, Victoria 2026, the next Commonwealth Games in Australia, can be put to one side as esports seeks to enjoy its current prominence.

Foster is especially under no illusions of what the considerable spotlight means to esports and its community.

“It has been an incredibly exciting opportunity for the CGF and also the GEF to bring the two communities together and see them in parallel,” he said.

“What is true is the inaugural edition gives us the opportunity, like esports does, to evolve, to change and to grow.

“What we have discovered though is the incredible enthusiasm from the community, and different parts of the community, right around the Commonwealth.

“That has frankly taken me by surprise and delight.

“I knew the esports community would rally behind this chance to stand on such a brilliant stage in the centre of Birmingham, but to see the engagement of all the communities on the road to Birmingham has been really exciting.

“Particularly at this time of challenge for so many of us around the world, to give everyone, large and small, around the Commonwealth something to look forward to and to cheer for.”

Esports can lead to the creation of new jobs and skills.

Photo: Getty Images