Game on! Romania moves up the electronic sports ladder

The International e-Sport Federation has chosen Romania as the host country for the Electronic Sports World Cup this year, after the competition took place in South Korea for four years in a row. Silviu Stroie, president of the Professional Gamers League, explains why this is important.

By Otilia Haraga

The gaming community in Romania totals approximately 3 million, of whom approximately 1 million are specialists and 10,000 professionals, Stroie told BR.

The image benefits that Romania will gain from being host country will be substantial, but there will also be an economic impact. “The Electronic Sports World Cup will bring 270 people from 46 countries to Bucharest. The impact for the economy is obvious, but I cannot say for sure what revenues will come from this,” said Stroie.

“We have become the most important country in Eastern Europe and we are third in Europe, after Germany and the Nordic countries, by the number of electronic sports players involved in global competitions, the organized contests and the prizes offered in various tournaments,” he told BR.

Last year, about 4,000 Romanian gamers took part in the six online and offline gaming competitions that took place at national level.

This year’s Electronic Sports World Cup will take place between October 31 and November 4 at the Polivalenta Hall.

“After a series of talks exploring the possibility of organizing the event on another continent, but also the degree of accessibility that a European location involves, we decided that Bucharest would host the Electronic Sports World Championship in 2013,” announced Won-Suk Oh, general secretary of the International eSport Federation.

The men’s competition comprises two disciplines, League of Legends, with prize money of USD 27,000, and Alliance of Variant Arms, with prizes of USD 18,000.

The women’s competition will also comprise two disciplines, StarCraft 2 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

“This is a big step for the electronic sports industry in Romania and a huge benefit for professional and amateur players. We have been trying for six years, via the Professional Gamers League, to transform gaming competitions into a sports discipline, but this is the first time that we have got a positive answer. One of the main advantages of organizing this event is that it will be easy for a team of gamers to register as a sports club, form partnerships with various companies and so on,” said Stroie.

Over the past four years, Romania has been among the top three nations in the Electronic Sports World Championship.

“Since we became members in the Federation in 2009, we have always landed among the top three positions in the final country ranking. In 2009, 2011 and 2012 we were awarded third prize and in 2010 we took second prize,” Stroie said.

Now president of the League of Professional Gamers, he was also appointed a member on the board of the International eSport Federation.

“Apart from the very good relations between the gaming community in Romania and that in South Korea, the fact that the Electronic Sports World Cup takes place in Bucharest is a plus for players and people working in this industry who want to attend. Romania has the advantage of being a European country, which means that access to the event will be easier,” said Stroie.

The World Cup will also host the General Assembly of the Federation, where votes will be cast to decide on the entry of new members. There will also be an international congress which will gather the largest global companies in the industry to discuss the development of electronic sports.

“In the near future, the companies that are present on the market will grow their number of employees, many of whom are recruited from the ranks of electronic gamers, and many other companies will open local offices. Romania can soon become a European hub for the large Asian companies in this industry. Already, several Korean companies are testing the waters,” said the president.

otilia.haraga@business-review.ro

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