President Macron promises “new era” for French esports

French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to begin a “new era” for French esports when he met with well-known French esports personalities at The Élysée Palace on June 3.

President Macron met with a number of notable French members of the esports world, including streamer Adrien “ZeratoR” Nougaret, Karmie Corp founders Amine “Prime” Mekri and Kamel “Kameto” Kebir, broadcast host Laure Valée, and retired DoTA 2 star Sebastian “Ceb” Debs. During the meeting, the President acknowledged the impact the attendees had had on the world of esports and made promises about elevating French esports.

Macron pledges next step in French esports

Having been re-elected as French President on May 7, Macron met with French esports leaders ahead of legislative elections across France on June 12. The meeting also came days after the French government mandated a ban on English gaming terms in official communications.

During the meeting, President Macron made his intentions about esports clear.

“Today begins a new era, not simply to recognize you but to help you structure yourself, move forward and progress…We can create a lot of value for the country if we collectively know how to organize it, carry it and be a very great esports nation“

France has been a growing nation in esports for some time. Karmine Corp have quickly risen to the top of League of Legends’ European Regional Leagues, having won the last three editions of the EU Masters competition. During his time in DoTA 2, Ceb was one of the best players on the scene, winning multiple titles at The International.

President Macron went on to discuss the potential posed for esports by the impending 2024 Olympic Games, set to take place in Paris.

“The 2024 Olympics can be an opportunity to set very important objectives and to use this event to mobilize French and international esports. We will work together…The objective is that between now and 2024 we manage to have major international events.”

While the International Olympic Committee formally announced in 2018 that esports would not feature as a sport at the 2024 Olympics, international esports have come leaps and bounds since then. A number of games have been featured at the Asian and Southeast Asian Games, and Riot Games told Dexerto in 2021 that the company was actively working with Olympic leadership. This could mean that esports may potentially appear in an exhibition capacity at Paris 2024.

However, as President Macron stated, the current focus is for France to host major international esports events prior to the 2024 Olympics. What that means in practice will likely be revealed over the coming months.

But for now, French esports just received significant backing from the nation’s head of state.

Header: Julian De Rosa for AFP