"That's it, we're holding our France 98!" With the victory of the Vitality team on Sunday, Nicolas Maurer has something to celebrate. The team, which he co-founded and of which he is the president, won in the final of the Major of "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive", against the Germans of GamerLegion. The most beautiful title in its history, in a melting Accor Arena and under the cheers of 12,000 people.
History 🤩 @TeamVitality wins the home #CSGOmajor🥳
Huge congratulations to the whole team for this fabulous victory against @GamerLegion which definitively enters the 🇫🇷 history of #esport and #esport in the history of @MatthieuPECHE @Vitality_Neo https://t.co/dB4y5Xoi7p pic.twitter.com/Zp1Nh1wwGD 🇫🇷 😉
— Amélie Oudéa-Castéra (@AOC1978) May 21, 2023
Under the eyes, too, of the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. Interviewed by Le Monde on Sunday, the minister reaffirmed her ambition for French e-sport. With the organization of this event, followed online by several hundred thousand people, and therefore crowned by the victory of a French team, "we are establishing the country as a great nation of e-sport," she boasted.
"French champions in all games"
According to data compiled by Le Parisien, France is among the most successful nations in global esports. It is the seventh most represented country among the top 300 players who have won the most over the past year, all games combined, according to data from the specialized site Esports Earnings. Eleven French players are featured, including Dan "apEX" Madesclaire and Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, both members of the Vitality team that won on Sunday. A list to be taken with caution, given that the winnings are very variable according to the games and competitions, but which still provides a first indicator.
"The France is well located," Nicolas Besombes, professor at the University of Paris Cité, told Le Parisien. "In terms of results, there are French champions in almost every game," adds the specialist. Among them, we can mention the Lensois Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, on "CS: GO", double world champion in 2019 and 2020, but also Sébastien "Ceb" Debs, "one of the best players in the history of Dota 2", or William "Glutonny" Belaïd, considered the best European player on "Super Smash Bros" and one of the best in the world.
"There has been a decline in performance over the last ten years," says Philippe Rodier, manager of Atletec, a professional e-sports club, and author of a book on the subject. "The France had a lot of world champions until 2012-2013, it is a little less the case today - which is explained in particular by a strengthened competition at the international level." If it can not compete with behemoths like China or the United States, which have many more players, the France can nevertheless boast a certain "versatility", according to him.
Vitality, "the PSG of e-sport"
Vitality's triumph at the CS: GO Major on Sunday also represents a victory of great prestige for a French team - partly composed of foreign players. "It's the equivalent of a Grand Slam in tennis," says Nicolas Besombes. "We have always had French champions on this game, but a victory like this is exceptional," he added, noting that this is the first success of a French team in this competition since LDLC (now LDLC-OL) in 2014. A result all the more remarkable as teams wishing to get into the game generally encounter difficulties in finding funding in France. "French public and private investors have always struggled to position themselves on shooting games, which is not necessarily the case in other countries such as the United States, but also Sweden or Denmark," notes the expert.
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With Vitality, the France now has an internationally renowned team, positioned on several games and backed by a powerful foreign investor - Rewired.gg, an investment fund owned by an Indian billionaire. "This team can become a locomotive for French e-sport, like PSG for football," said Philippe Rodier, who said he was "optimistic" for the future of the discipline in France. Hailing a "dense associative fabric", a "creative" environment and a "real expertise" in the organization of events, Nicolas Besombes wonders: "Will France become THE great e-sport nation in Europe, as the government wants? I am not sure about that. One of the great nations, on the other hand, is quite possible. »
