Gaming | Sport: Gamers assembly shows resilience with new online format

This is definitely one of the biggest gaming events in France. Created in 2000, the Gamers Assembly, held annually in Poitiers on Easter weekend, saw the death of one of the most formidable “bosses” known to members of the Futurolan Association last year. Kovid-19. After hastily hosting the 2020 edition online, the organizers were able to put this year’s conference into a hybrid format.

“This is a big shock and challenge for the whole team.”Deciro Kausavo, Honorary President of Futurolan, the association that runs GA, breathed a sigh of relief. After a successful 2019 with 2,500 players and nearly 25,000 visitors over the weekend, 2020 is, for many event organizers, a dark year. “When the arrest was announced we were making final touches to our event. We initially thought it would last for a few weeks but things did not improve. We thought about postponing the event and finally decided to put it on the moment but online.” After that, the organizers tried to hold two more events in September and November, but both had to be canceled, Kovid insisted.

Hybrid format for both online and offline

This year, it is necessary to double the innovation so that gamers can manage the assembly. “We think vaccinations came in December and April and everything will be fine or we will uming if we are safe., Désiré Koussawo continues. The inspiration of the association was to organize a physical event so some members wanted it. Others propose to focus on an event that can be operated on even in custody. The only way is to do it in the studio. “

Therefore, exit the merry barn of the classic party-lawn, where the cables are intertwined and players scream across the room as one team dominates the other. This year, GA will be held online with five official competitions on Fortnight, League of Legends, Rocket League, Trackmania and FIFA 21. However in order to manage them, it is still necessary to collect financial means. The association dropped its annual budget in 2019 from about 10 million euros to 300,000 or 400,000 euros. So to convince their partners, managers created a hybrid structure by inventing new ways to register in the territory.

Three events instead of one

“To compensate for the fact that we have less local footprint – because the Gamers Assembly usually has 25,000 visitors and it sustains the local economy – instead of doing a big event at Easter, we told them we’re going to give at least three events a year. The idea of ​​creating “, Desiro Kausao explains. In addition to the traditional Easter weekend event from April 3 to 5, the Gamers Assembly will be presenting the “Summer Edition” on June 5 and 6, followed by the “Halloween Edition” on November 6 and 7 in St. Benedict’s. If health rules develop, change his tune to keep players on the spot.

“We started a social project with the local integration mission to support the local mission by conducting eSport operations in the area with small competitions in the morning and afternoon support and integration sessions. The values ​​of the sport are used in the afternoon. We also have a cultural project with neighboring houses. It is a large pixel hunt with a hundred frescoes. It represents the pixels in the tiles across the Grand Poitiers. “, The administrator continues.

“Come back stronger in 2022”

With these novelties, “All our major partners have resigned, I thought we would lose half of that.”, Desiro Kausao agreed. Among them: Famous players in the field are Omen by AOC Gaming or HP, but also associations such as the NRJ and the Grand Poitiers and the Novel-Aquitaine region. “Without the support of the Grand Poitiers in 2020, I’m not sure if the association will still exist. They are interested in continuing their subsidy throughout the year, so we do not want to take any risk this year.”

Finally, for the public, we find codes of the event: contests (online, therefore), but also animations. “We wanted to show that we were in the Gamers Assembly, so we rented a hall in the Exhibition Center to keep the spectators back in the mood., Futurolan directs the Honorary President. We are going to set up a TV set there, it will be possible to have animators to bring this event to life. We will have the opportunity to invite some guests on the set and we have also planned an animation corner with the team rebuilding Poetry in Mincraft. We go back and forth between online and offline. “

Hopefully, this edition will return to normal. “This frustration that we have been accumulating for months, I can not wait until it explodes so that we can come back even stronger in 2022.”, Concluded the administrator.

More information about the competition ga2021.gamers-assembly.net.