OFFICIAL RECOGNITION OF ESPORTS IN RUSSIA

A milestone event for the gaming industry happened in June 2016, when the act of the Russian Sports Ministry provided an official status to e-sports.

Due to this act, people now can get comprehensive e-sports education, the Russian eSports Federation (RESF) carries out large tournaments, and national e-sports athletes can enter the international stage. Moreover, the act opened up a number of new business perspectives.

Education

The Russian State University of Physical Education, Sports, Youth and Tourism has opened a specialty ‘Theory and Methods of Computer Sports’. After graduating, students receive a state-recognized degree. They specialize in preparing professional e-sports players.

The Higher School of Economics together with RESF created a training course ‘eSports Management’. The program is designed for organizers of e-sports tournaments and managers in the field of e-sports. After the training, students receive a diploma of professional retraining.

New possibilities for the Russian eSports Federation

By the order of the Russian Sports Ministry, in July 2017, the Russian eSports Federation received the rights and duties of the All-Russian Sports Federation in ‘Computer Sports’.

Now RESF popularizes e-sports, builds a full-fledged infrastructure for the industry, prepares e-sports judges, creates educational projects.

RESF has already hosted the Russian eSports Cup (2016-2017), involving more than 11,000 players, as well as the National eSports Student League with more than 170 universities (2017-2018).

Official championships

After recognizing e-sports, Russia started to host official tournaments organized by the eSports Federation.

Between October and December 2017, the first official championship on FIFA 18 in Russia was held, organized by RESF and the Russian Football Union. The tournament was attended by 1300 players; the prize fund was 1 million RUB.
The Russian eSports championship is planned for 2018, which will include three games: Dota 2, Hearthstone and CS:GO. The prize pool is 3,5 million RUB.

For eSports tournaments to receive the Olympic status, their organizers have to demonstrate to the Committee that they are quite popular among players, have development prospects and can gain international recognition. The centralized system for computer competitions management is also required.

You will find more information about the prospects that open up for business at eSPORTconf Russia 2018 that will be held on April 3 in Moscow.

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