They may have come from around the world to the French Riviera. But the only views they were interested in were on computer monitors inside a hangar-like exhibition space.<\/p>\n
Players and fans of top-selling fighter video games — think Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter — converged on Nice over the weekend for the first European edition of Evo, the biggest esports championship for this gaming category.<\/p>\n
“It’s a golden opportunity to see how you measure up to adversaries from the entire world,” said Julien Thomas, a 23-year-old Parisian who is one of the top French players of Street Fighter 6.<\/p>\n
In its 29-year history, US-based Evo — short for the Evolution Championship Series — has never had a European tournament, and the anticipation was evident.<\/p>\n
Some 5,000 players from 93 countries were signed up for Evo France.<\/p>\n
“The players have been waiting a long time for this tournament in Europe, it’s a historic first,” said Florent Gay, esports manager at Bandai Namco, maker of Tekken 8, one of the heavyweight games titles at the event.<\/p>\n
The players were vying to win prize money of 100,000 euros ($116,000).<\/p>\n
More importantly, though, the victor will qualify for the Capcom Cup 12 tournament in Tokyo in March next year, which has a prize pool of $1.2 million.<\/p>\n
– ‘Like the Olympics’ –<\/p>\n
The players competing in Evo France were plunged into a series of knockout rounds, with the top eight to play on the main stage on Sunday.<\/p>\n
One disappointed controller-jockey, Nahil “Pepito” Gassim, made it through six rounds before being beaten by one of the best Chinese players, Zhen.<\/p>\n
“I wanted to do better, but it’s a long road to the top,” said Gassim, who is sponsored by a French Web TV outfit, Solary.<\/p>\n
“Winning Evo means becoming a gaming legend. It’s the ultimate trophy,” he said, adding that he would stay for the rest of the event to cheer on his friends.<\/p>\n
One of the organisers of Evo France, Bertrand Amar, said: “If I had to compare it, it’s like the Olympics of fighting video games. There are several disciplines, it’s open to everyone and the path to winning is long and fraught.”<\/p>\n
He said planning was already under way for a second edition of Evo France next year, also to be held in Nice.<\/p>\n
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