Games of the Future: The controversial phygitak tournament backed by the Russian government

This month, esports teams from all over the world will participate in the Games of the Futurean experimental tournament that fuses sports and esports. With a total prize pool of $10 million and unprecedented political backingThere is a lot at stake. However, there is one important detail: the event will be held in Russia.

Games of the Future, which will take place in from February 19 to March 3represents a project funded by the Russian government, with a budget of $58 million.full of legal uncertainties and geopolitical tensions. So far, there has been little coverage of the event in the Western media.

A political project

The basis of Games of the Future is what the organizers call ‘phygital’ sports, a combination of esports, physical activity and emerging technologies such as virtual reality and drones.. The event will include physical activities along with tournaments of Dota 2, Counter-Strike, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and others, for which permission for use has probably not been obtained.

The event features the political backing from the highest levels of the Russian government.. At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2022, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko announced that the ‘Games of the Future’ would be held in Kazan, a relatively prosperous city in eastern Russia.

In March 2023, a joint communique signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow announced that the two countries would cooperate on the event. China said it would ‘support’ the event due to shared disagreement with Russia’s exclusion from international sporting events. “Both sides oppose politicization in sport and hope sport will promote peace and unity“, the statement said.

It is unclear whether the Chinese government is still involved in this edition of Games of the Future. It appears to have become entirely funded by the Russian government.although Xi Jinping confirmed to Putin on February 8 that Chinese athletes would participate in the event. Putin also invited China to host the next edition in 2026.

International participation

Despite Russia’s status due to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine initiated in 2022, several major esports teams participate in the Russian government-funded event.. This has generated strong criticism from those personally affected by the war. More than 150 athletes from 17 countries will participate in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) tournament alone.with a prize pool of $1 million, Russian state news agency TASS reported in January.

Visas are often a problem for esports players, especially for a country like Russia. However, visas for Games of the Future will probably not be a problem, as Russia’s own Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent the invitations directly to 100 countries.

Licensing concerns

Game publishers and developers require tournament organizers to obtain a license to run large esports tournaments, which usually involves paying a fee. It seems likely that Games of the Future has not received permission to use many of the titles on which it plans to hold tournaments, in unprecedented defiance of the rights of video game intellectual property holders.

While the law governing the event states its official objectives, which include promoting the concept of ‘phygital’ esports and recognizing athletic talent, the event’s history offers insight into its underlying political function.