director of the Intercontinental eSports League Alexander Gorbachenko on the losses and prospects of Russian eSports under sanctions

The director of the Intercontinental eSports League told Kommersant about the losses and prospects of Russian eSports in the face of geopolitical restrictions. Alexander Gorbachenko.

– How did the exclusion of the Russian Federation from the international system of competitions affect domestic e-sports?

– All Russian eSports is connected with the outside world at the level of commercial projects (clubs Virtus.pro, Team Empire, Team Spirit, Forze), which represent our face. Difficulties were created for us, many commercial clubs were forced to relocate, but now no one excludes them from international competitions.

Russian athletes are already participating in European clubs, and this is encouraging (for example, Daniyal yamich Lazebny moved from the Russian Dota 2 team Virtus.pro to the European Team Secret in March 2023, and Dmitry DM Dorokhin also from Virtus.pro on December 9, 2022 moved to OG.— “b”).

Yes, we will not have a Blast Major (counter strike: global offensive esports league), but in terms of interaction with the outside world, it seems to me that we will continue our activities – commercial and professional.

— What model is used to build financing in eSports? On what and how do the organizers and players earn?

– All eSports works at the expense of sponsors, investors and the state – at the level of the sports system, youth policy and education. With the players, everything is simple. Where they are in an organized commercial structure or a national team, there can be salaries (e-sports player Jame Ali, who plays for Virtus.pro, said earlier that novice CS:GO players who have a contract with the club receive from $300 up to $1.5 thousand, experienced – up to $3 thousand, and world superstars – more than $8 thousand— “b”) and prize funds, there may be advertising sponsorship contracts with the team. There are almost no other sources.

Fans who are not members of esports clubs or youth schools can only look for tournaments with prize pools or sponsors, there is no other way. Among the organizers there are enthusiasts who in their free time make projects, implement tournament components, gather an audience, improve the quality of tournaments, attracting more and more attention and potential sponsors.

There are federations that know how to work with the authorities. There is another story when a major brand says they want a tournament under their auspices.

— How serious was the departure of foreign esports organizers and sponsors from Russia?

We have lost hundreds of millions of rubles. Only one final Blast or Epicenter (international organizers of eSports championships that hold competitions in different countries.— “b”) as a Major is valued at millions of dollars in sponsorship income. Moreover, even those who remained in Russia stung their sponsorship assets.

– Which of the major domestic companies is now interested in sponsoring e-sports?

– Rosatom signed a cooperation agreement with the FCC this year, Rostelecom has always paid attention to computer sports, VK. In the regions, Dom.ru actively manifests itself in cooperation with the industry. Tinkoff showed interest. But we need more large companies in the industry, especially regional ones.

— By the end of 2024, esports courses should be included in the curriculum of Russian universities. How do you assess their prospects?

– The people who launch this program believe that in four years, and that is how much time it takes to train to a specialist, the FCS of Russia will develop computer sports to the point where such specialists will be needed. However, they are very much mistaken. We need coaches, we need masters in the field of organizing competitions, technical specialists, judges, administrators. You don’t have to study for four years to do this.

— How do you see the future of Russian esports? What is needed for its development?

– We need to work and meet the needs of athletes, participants, spectators, copyright holders. I don’t see any difficulty in this. Western game publishers may have different attitudes towards the Russian market. Including noting that this is not the largest part of the industry in terms of monetization. But we are a significant part in terms of quantitative indicators of participants, that is, professional players, users. Foreign athletes need to play with someone. It is always interesting to play with a strong opponent. And the Russian players are very strong.

Interviewed by Vadim Krasnikov