In an interview, French President Emmanuel Macron announced ambitious esports plans for France. In 2024, the top Esport titles are to hold their tournaments in France at the same time as the Olympic Games.
You have to make do, not spill! That’s probably what the current president of France, Emmanuel Macron, thought. In an interview with the French website thebigWhale, he announced ambitious plans for 2024. He wants to bring the biggest esports tournaments in the world to France.
France, a great video game nation
In a round-up of programmes and attitudes around the net world, Emmanuel Macron, when interviewed by thebigWhale, also extensively praised France as a great video gaming nation. For example, he said, the country is not only home to industry giants like Ubisoft. Esports teams like Team Vitality and Karmine Corp were also mentioned by the president.
Top French players in many Esport titles as well as a large streaming scene have done their bit to establish France as one of the video game strongholds of Europe. A distinction that is also evident at tournaments. Not only did a Dota Major take place in Paris in 2019, but the grand finale of the LoL Worlds also hosted thousands of fans at the Accor Arena on the Seine.
Macron now plans to make France the video game nation par excellence and sees a historic opportunity to do so in 2024.
Fitting for the 2024 Olympics
France will host the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the pinnacle of sporting achievement. According to Macron’s will, France will fittingly host the biggest Esport events in the same year
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La médaille, la flamme, Marianne.
Voici le nouveau visage des Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques de Paris2024The medal, the flame, Marianne
Here is the new face of the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/6VvsItrql6– Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) October 21, 2019
He names these as the Worlds in League of Legends, the International in Dota 2, and one of the Majors in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. As president, he said he would work to establish such a “link between the Olympiads of both worlds” and bring France’s influence to bear.
Just an election manoeuvre?
As an Esport fan, such lofty plans naturally trigger enthusiasm at first. After all, such a concentration of esports events in our neighbouring country would be a more than welcome contrast to the step-motherly treatment of esports in Germany.
However, one must bear in mind that this statement by Macron is of course taking place during the current election campaign in France. Finally, the president also ends the paragraph on Esport by saying that he will work on it if the French trust him and re-elect him. Macron faces a run-off against his rival Marine Le Pen on Sunday. In the first round of voting, the two were separated by a mere 4 percentage points.
Even if it ends up being “only” a last-minute vote catcher among younger voters, Macron has definitely drawn attention to the gaming and esports scene in France. Nonetheless, the president’s recognition of the achievements of French esports professionals and video game developers is a great thing for the French scene.
Whether France will actually become the Esports Olympics in 2024 remains to be seen.
