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Today, we're crashing the video game world cup, the port. I feel like I've landed on another planet, for real. 75 million euros cash prize, 850 million viewers, more than 2000 players, 24 games. We'll see if the players in esports are really doing sports. Here we go. Laura, how are you doing? I'm doing very well, and you? Alright. So, here we have the toilet. It's the World Cup of video games. To be honest with you, it's a world I don't know at all. I used to play Dofus back when I was in middle school, I played it quite a bit, kind of like a no- lifer and all that. 1.29, you see. A classic. I've done my classics. I also played a little bit of Counter-Strike during lockdown, but I wasn't very good.
We are a team. Well, I'm here to try and understand why the title esports includes " sport". So, we're going to meet the athletes, the players, we're going to try to see at the level of their daily life, their day, whether they train, their mental health, physical health, the pressure, how they manage it. Can we go for a short walk so you can show me around? Okay, let's go. We have lots of things to see in real life. What's going on Ah, we're in pre-cha. Roughly speaking, before each final, there's a big show where the music starts with a countdown. We had it for Val Laoren on Rocket League and all the games and I admit it does have a bit of an effect That's before the big finals, right Yeah. Before we bring the
teams on stage and all that so that he can get settled there, well, you have this performance from the dancers that takes place. Amazing. Just realizing the scale is already huge. I think it's true that talking about the sports world is a whole other world, you know. It's not my field and it's crazy to think that it structures such huge things Yeah. Well, you know, you ask yourself this question: where is the link between athletes and sport? For example, there are failures too.
The connection is there, it only happens in your head. It's really all in the mind. So here, I think we're getting into the Fortnite side of things. So this is actually a scene from a game. That's it. You have a great internship. That was really the place. We've had all the battle royale games. So there was Apex Jones, we had PUBG mobile last week and now we have Fortnite players that you can see installing. Are these players also somewhat like stars in their sport? Especially since Fortnite did a great job when they entered the sports world. At the time, they arrived and said, "Well, we're going to put up the biggest cash prize in the effort." That is to say,
the first one left with several million and it's true that already that and tell yourself in 2019, there are French people for example a little French 16 year old who qualified at least, who took his brevet the same year and who left and who had a guarantee of winning like 25 or 45000 basic dollars. Even if you get eliminated right away That's incredible. Absolute. When you're in middle school, parents often tell you, "No, I don't play video games much, focus on your studies." But when parents have seen that their little ones are doing both, when you play well and finally get good grades and you see that there is potential in your child, why not support them? You see, it's like any other sport, you see, he's starting to prove himself, he's been
spotted by teams who are starting to say "Yeah, we'd like to do some trials with him." What parent is going to say no? It's a great time for all those video game fans who are at home and love video games. Today, you can make a living by playing video games. It's perfectly possible to live a good life. Neo, how are you doing? Alright. Thank you for giving us a little bit of your time here this week, this very busy month. Neo, can you introduce yourself briefly? So, listen, my name is Fabien Néo Deville. I am the founder and CEO of Vitality, an esports club, therefore a video game competition club, which I founded. one of the biggest teams in France, one of the biggest teams in France for
a few years now, and we'll say, come on, if we flex a little, now's the time, we need to show a little bit of reason, but joking, but basically we're top 3 in the world, we're a big baby, a big global leader as they say, and there you have it, Vitality today is the video game competition, it's been around for 13 years and it's French, what is the record of your players that you have at Vitality then, well in 13 years we have won a lot, a lot, let's say today our flagship game is Counter Strike. because FPS is a little bit of our DNA and our identity and on Counter Strike today, we are considered along with Astralis the best team in the entire history of the game which is 25 years old. So this is a wonderful recognition for
us. And we were three times world champions, we won two world championships in a row and we actually beat Katovic twice and Colon once, which are mini majors. It's the equivalent of the ATP 1000 in tennis and the World Cup is the equivalent of a big shirt. How many employees work at Vitality, the esports organization that you manage? It's true because we talk a lot about video game sports, but in fact it's a real company now, it's been structured for 13 years now. We raised quite a lot of money because ultimately we wanted to increase our visibility, our resources, or even our ambition to pay players. How much is a sports player worth? So it will depend on the game types of the level, and maybe it will also depend on the age of the level. It's
a bit like sports in the end, meaning that a volleyball player is n't going to cost as much as a football player. OK. So actually it will depend on a lot of things but let's say if you look at the notoriety maybe that also helps a lot because obviously when you are a player who has more followers it will help a little bit on the sponsorship side and on the brand side too to sell more. So these are elements that we take into account and we will say a player like that is estimated for example on a game like Counter Strike it is around a million or even a little several million euros transfer fee. So today it's incredible to think that you can make a living from video games and you can make a good living from
video games provided of course that you are good. It's really the 0.01% who manage to make a living from it, and especially who manage to make a very, very good living from it. When we talk about Apex and IO today, there are players who, at the end of their careers, will potentially be multimillionaires. But at the same time, they are anomalies at their level, they are UFOs. And it's the same in any sport, meaning there are many who are passionate but very few are chosen. It remains a very precarious and difficult field, and that's why we often advise young people who want to get into it to consider Plan B. Plan A is the diploma, everything else that goes along with it and will allow you to have your feet
on the ground. And if on the other hand you have the right ingredient, a bit of luck and above all a lot of talent and the right mindset, you might make a career out of it, but that's how you have to see it. So this is the clubhouse. What is the Clubhouse ? So, well, it's really, I want to tell you, a place dedicated to supporters and teams, roughly speaking, you have to come to the teams here and you see the big boxes right here, the mystery box. OK. Those are things you find in the game. That's it. These are game accessories. Wait. No, it's better than that. Basically, they just tasked the players with filling large boxes like that with things of their choice. It could be personal matters, it could
be a team merger. And roughly speaking, at those two locations over there, the supporters of the teams. For example, I 'm a Vita supporter, you're a Falcons or Spirit supporter, well we'll come and compete there and basically there are sorts of competitions that will be set up and the winners can leave with the boxes filled by their team. OK. It's for the visitor experience. Exactly. You can tell it's a very lively salon. Yeah. Want to play CS? Do you want to play CS? Pleasure. My pleasure. I'm going to get the stand manager. I'm coming. That's kind. THANKS. So in the living room, there are booths where you can compete against
people, subscribers. Tibo, pleased to meet you. Are you feeling well? Do you play Counter-Strike a lot or not? Yeah. OK, that works. Listen, I'm going to face you and we'll see what happens. Yeah, go ahead. Take it easy. Don't worry, you'll take it easy, okay? OK. Ah, we'll sit next to each other then. That's it. You coach me. Go ahead, I'll motivate you. Okay, you motivate, you motivate, don't worry. OK. So, I put on the helmet. You're staying too long, try to moderate your pace there.
OK. Wait, wait, wait. I'm concentrating. Offset. OK. What are offsets? That's disgusting. OK, OK. Oh, wait, well done. I have reflexes. Reposition yourself. OK. I'm going into shape. OK. Okay, that's the signal. [laughs] Well done. Okay, well done. Equality. Yeah, let's say that. [laughs] Thank you very much Mohamed. Tibo, pleased to meet you. Delighted. GOOD. Thank you for coming. With great pleasure. You are the organizer of the World Cup sports event. Do you feel that year after year
is gaining more and more strength, scope, and enthusiasm? Absolutely. So, we can already see it in terms of viewers, the number of people who watch the event and the competition. Our vision is that sport will become the greatest sport in the world. Whoa We hope so. Whoa! Could this sporting competition be compared to another sporting event in terms of power? Which one would you say it is? So, in terms of format, I would say it's a mix between the Champions League and the Olympic Games. For what? because it's a club competition, so it's not national teams, it's the biggest clubs that are playing. Why the Olympic Games? Because we have 24 tournaments and each club
will decide to participate with its teams in a certain number of its games. You earn points based on the games you participate in, and at the end, we have a general ranking. But since it's clubs, it's more like the Champions League than anything else. OK. When I see posters in Paris, for example, featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, is it your intention to mix sports and other sports? Absolutely. Cristiano is a global ambassador for the Sport World Cup. Why Cristiano? because he is a role model for many athletes, many young people even who are not athletes and putting him on posters all over the city is also a way of showing
people that, well, for us athletes in sport, they are real athletes, they are in their sport at the same level as Cristiano in his sport and in addition he is today the most famous personality in the world. So it's easy to put it in campaigns, in posters. It also allows the sport to grow and as I said, our goal is to make it the greatest sport in the world. And it is by partnering with personalities like him that we can also grow this sport. Awesome. So here we are in another part of the living room. Is this the part you were telling me about? Well, listen, this is the shopping area.
Gamers also like fashion. Of course, we see that. We can see that. Traditional brands are placed on jerseys. You see when we take the Caramine jersey without advertising or anything, but you see Charal, it's Red Bull orange. It's crazy to say that yeah, there are traditional brands that are positioning themselves and believing in video games. Thomas, how's it going? How are you doing? Alright. Thank you so much. people gave of your time. So you're an ultra at Vitality then. Exactly. What does that mean? Because we know about ultras in football and so on. What does Ultra mean? So, being ultra, even in the sporting sense, ultra isn't a term we like to use because yeah, it's a bit related to the oligopolism
that existed in football and all that. So, at least here at Vit, we like being a supporters' club. So we are Golden Hornet, that's the name of the supporters' club, and what we try to do is travel to all the events where they are. It's a silly question, but why do you support a team that says "sports" and not " sports"? Well, because in fact we can still find similarities with sports. There are athletes of course, the players even the game, it can be that we can have an infection with a particular game, see a French team on a game, that and that provokes emotions, I imagine and all. What's your best memory as a supporter?
The best memory I have as a real-life supporter was the Paris Major on Counter-Strike. It was in 2023 and it was Vitality's first major victory. So, being a Vitality fan at the same time, well, we're here for the very first one. That's really nice. And then the whole arena was for Vitality. So when you had shares for Vitality, there was shouting everywhere, it gave you chills. So it was truly incredible. Laura, this room is magnificent. What is it that we are here? So, this is the big UVC wall. This is the large arena where you'll find the big trophy, because, as a reminder, they have points to collect and they're all going to fight for
this big trophy. So what you see is 2025, 2024, 2026, so in the middle is Team Falcon 2024, Team Falcon 2025, and in the middle, well, 2006, we're not there yet, and there you see the first WC champion and Dark Angel, he's the player who was the WC champion this year on Fatal Fury, who also won the competition on Valorence, and all these characters are really stars in their sport, that's right, yes, we have champions in France, we made a historic record with a French player, for example, the games that work well here are Apex, League of Legends, Street Fighter, they work very well. And then, well, after all the classics we see, Overwatch, Fortnite, Counter-Strike, incredible. I am fascinated by the scenery. It's beautiful.
It's true, it's impressive. Do you know you're over 30 when you start doing this in the carrier industry or not? Yeah, that's clear. [laughs] That's when you know you're over 30. Yeah. When we think of video games, we often think of boys. Are there still many more daughters and women today who play and are also actors in the model? Yeah, we exist. Yeah, yeah, of course. There are many. Well, less so, actually, I'm proof of that, huh. I come from that era when video games weren't marketed for girls, they weren't dedicated to girls, whether it was consoles or anything like that. I managed to get a PC because for a girl, it was easier to get a PC than to give her a real video game console So, I think there has been more of a delay. It was simpler for
girls who had brothers at home, for example, who had consoles, than if you were a girl like me with only one older sister who did n't play, you were kind of up against this wall, and time has done things well because today it's kind of completely changed. Access is for everyone. Unfortunately, there is still toxicity online. It's not in video games that we 're harder on women, to say the least, there's still work to be done [laughs] on that. Exactly. But there are a lot of girls, we have some typical champions in Counter Strike. The best player in the world right now is French. Incredible, cry with me.
What is her name? Astra. Astra because And we can cry because there all the Counter Strike players, they are just GOATS in fact. They are too strong. Unfortunately, there is more investment on the side of the female scenes. So basically, they're switching games because ultimately, they don't have a choice; there's no more competition in their game. OK. Something you'll never see in female scenes, but the goal is to have a mix, actually. So Alexis, pleased to meet you. Tibo, I already know you. You don't know me. But listen, I'm delighted to meet you and understand a little about your world. What's your job here? So, I've been a Counter Strike match commentator for over 6 years now, so professionally, I work for
production companies. He buys broadcasting rights, a bit like in football. So he buys circuits and then distributes them. And so I enjoy presenting, commenting, and being the French voice. So, Counter- Strike matches. OK. In a 3v4 situation, what can we do in close quarters? Not much. 7 to 2, it's all going smoothly for Furia. G2 didn't have a plan B. Roughly how many viewers do you get for a Counter-Strike match like that So it obviously depends on the teams. The more French players there are, the higher the French audience figures. On the other hand, we can count between 3,500 and up to
10,000 non-French viewers, and when it goes up with French viewers, we can go up to 25,000 and 30,000. We set a record for viewers last year with 92,000 simultaneous viewers. Amazing. It's not bad. Awesome. So Alexis, this is where you'll be working for about ten days during the Counter competitions. Exactly. Now I see there are buttons and lights everywhere. There are lights everywhere. Can you explain a little bit? So we have the two cameras, we're going to have two different angles, so wide angle and fixed angle on the host. We have the mixing console here which will manage all
the sound inputs, microphone and so on. So if someone says something stupid at any point, bam, we cut them off. OK, that works. Yeah, quite simply. Okay, multi-screen lights. So we're essentially going to watch the game on both screens so that each of us can see it, because we're doing the commentary together. We have secondary screens where we can check statistics and so on during the game. If we remember something, we do a quick search and think, "Ah, remember that time we were doing this during the event?" There are tons of broadcasters, even right here. So we have international broadcasting. There are French co-streamers, and China is right next door, so yeah, there are tons of people. It's crazy
! Not knowing anything about esports before coming here, I feel like I'm missing out on a parallel universe. It's kind of the case for everyone. It's true that the sport took off a few years ago. We see a lot of new things being created. We especially see, well, spells, let's say. Before, there wasn't all that. You know, Tibo, let's go back maybe 20 years. There was n't that. And now today, 20 years later, we find ourselves with. Huge scenes. We find ourselves with clubs that have their own identity. We also find supporters' associations like in football, and now today we find ourselves with professions like mine that have been present in sports for a
very long time, traditionally, and are now becoming the norm. So, I'm going to meet Scream. That's right. He's a player. Oh, he's a player we can even call a legend, honestly. Like, he's a Belgian player who really made his mark on CS history, he even earned the nickname "One Tap Machine." Wow, incredible. Earlier, when I told you not to keep your finger on the K47 when you shoot because you spray and it goes up on its own. Well, his specialty was hitting one ball at a time. That's what we call one tap. One tap allows you to be super precise, and for him, one tap was all about the head. Back then, we
tended to have French teams with only French players. Him He's the first Frenchman to have been on an international team with other English-speaking players. W Crim, how's it going? How's it going, Tibo? Very well. Thanks for being here anyway. Thank you very much. H, how long have you been playing video games? Well, me, well, I started like I think most gamers. We started, we got our hands on a PC thanks to older brothers, family, there's always someone who played before us, you know. Of course. I started, I was maybe 8 or 9 years old when I first touched a PC.
W, that means you played, not Counter-Strike at 8 or 9 years old, no, not Counter-Strike, but close. That's crazy. Can you tell us about your achievements? So, I have more than 200 events under my belt, I think roughly. Like 200 events, big events that I've won too. And you've been in the world of sports for 20 years. Yeah, I think my first competition was when I was 14 or 15. Is it important to be in good physical condition when you play sports? Well, in my twenties, I discovered fitness, so weight training, the gym, and he knows it, he knows it, he the gym. But yeah, when I discovered that, I realized
that having confidence in yourself, in your body, when you look at yourself in the mirror, I think those are very important things that impact all aspects of your life. So it can be, and especially in competition, you need to have a certain amount of self-confidence. You see, when you were 15, you thought, "One day I'm going to make a living from Counter-Strike." Well, make a living, no, but that's all you thought about. You thought that because it's a fundamental passion. Before, there was n't any money. I have I started earning a little money. I was 22 or 23, and I'd been playing long before that, you know. So my first professional contracts were at 22 or 23.
How much is a cash prize for a Counter-Strike victory worth today? Well, the biggest tournaments are around 2 million overall. Okay. So you have at least one tournament a month like that, it's incredible. I think CS is the esport with the most money in terms of cash prizes. Impressive. Is it a career where you've had to fly a lot, travel a lot? Oh yeah, definitely. Yeah, yeah, at my best, I was home maybe 3 or 4 months a year. So you travel everywhere, especially in America, long trips of course That's why I think that sport is very important to keep your head on your shoulders, to stay physically fit, you have to keep your energy, you See. And I think
that without sports, I don't know if I would have managed to stay in the business this long. And you come from Counter-Strike, you also played Valorance, which one is the best? Well, Counter-Strike is my favorite game, you know. I started playing Counter-Strike when I was 11, so I can't really give another answer, you see. But it's always interesting to try new things. I played, like I told you earlier, I played Counter-Strike during lockdown. Okay. I'd like to show you a clip I made. You tell me if I can become a pro. Okay.
We're a team. It lasts a minute. I think it glitched. So, I actually shot at the wall and I think someone took the team, duplicated it, but in my defense, I think it was me. Anyway, we'll each stick to our own thing. Awesome! And wonderful to share, take care of yourself. Keep spreading that huge, wonderful joy. We try to motivate others with great pleasure; that's what we're here for. Thank you. Good luck. Do you see right in front of us? We're going to be able to go see it because we saw it earlier, the famous machine that grinds the triangles into one, which all the teams, all the clubs, have. Well, actually, when they've finished and decided which
team they're going to beat, well, look, for example, I'm a Stracmania player, I know Carl Junior, I know Bren, who are very, very strong French champions. Well, for example, if I beat him, I could very well say, "Go ahead, I want to steal his gold trophy and grind it up." And then it goes into the little boxes here. And so you just see the little pieces. Ah, nice. They've managed to gamify this aspect of sport a little bit. It's neat; they've gamified sport after all. It's Strong. Yeah, they've gamified sports, it's incredible. You're right, they managed to do it. So it depends, it's very. Yeah. Well, there you go, you see, you see all the. Exactly.
All the. It's the other pieces that have been broken over the last few weeks. You can find them there. And as you can see, the machine literally destroyed it. Destroyed pieces. Apex, how are you? Feeling good? Very good. Thank you for your time anyway. Thank you. I know you're competing, so we'll be efficient, we 'll do things right. Can you tell us about your individual achievements? Well, in Counter-Strike, we have Majors, so Majors are the most important tournaments. I've won four and Matt three. And then we won a Grand Slam. It's several tournaments. Well, we've won quite a few
things. I've won 41 trophies, I think, and Zo 29, I think. Whoa. Eto, you're currently number 1 in Counter-Strike. Number 1. We fight with a little bit of talent. To say number 1, let's just say number 1. We believe it. Yeah, that's it. We believe it too. We believe it. What advice would you give to someone who's going to watch the video to become number 1 in Counter-Strike? What advice? It's tough. My advice that I always give is to smile. That's how I learned to play the game, to smile, to always enjoy it, to be with good friends, to play with good teammates. And that's how I've always progressed, let's say, in
the game. And he's a special case. Yeah, I [laughs] him a little because he's the best, but he has a gift. A real gift. How does it manifest itself? How Is it expressible? But if it can be explained, it can't. That's kind of it. It's an innate talent for the game. Truly, an innate talent. Everything seems normal to him, while for other people, it doesn't make sense. What are the qualities of a professional player? I'd say in any performance-related endeavor, as soon as you want to be the best, well, you have to be determined, you have to be determined to put things in your life aside to be able to
succeed with family and friends. We're away from home half the time, and when we're home, we have to train. So, Apex, what would your routine be as a player? I go to the gym because it's good for my mental health to have a routine and to take my mind off the game, the pressure, all of that. Having my time where I train, where I enjoy myself, I enjoy being at the gym, and it makes me feel good. To rest a little bit. Exactly. And then to last longer, you know, try to take care of yourself. I think that's important. I saw a video of you where you actually come out of the ground giving the crowd the middle finger. People were saying that sometimes
you're seen as a bit of an antagonist by foreign audiences. How so? What do you mean by that? Well, actually, we go back to last year, we won a lot. First part of the season, basically, we won six trophies out of every possible one and we made it to the biggest tournament, which is the major. So we were under immense pressure because if we didn't win it, even if we made it to the final and didn't win, it's like the World Cup final Yeah, but we had to win it. Otherwise, people would have said it was a fail. We would have failed the tournament. And we were under enormous pressure, and we ended up in Austin in the United States, and the whole tournament, we were getting yelled at. We were I was really booed, and besides, there were some
nice little things said to me. 20,000 people shouting "[__] you, Apex!" Exactly. That's the kind of pressure you have to deal with. It's crazy. That's it. And I thought, for the views, for the show, I'm going to go out with my phone and give them an incredible performance. And that video has been viewed millions of times on social media. Incredible. Yeah, it's really a whole other world. I didn't know anything about sports, and I'm discovering a whole new world with fans, players, a whole ecosystem-it's actually a real sport. It's incredible. I think there are a lot of young people who will watch the video and envy your life. What would you like to tell those young people?
Maybe to work hard at school first? No, but definitely. So, beyond sports, try to do what you love. We actually have a chance. Today, it's about making a living from our passion. Just like you today. And that's actually incredible. You wake up, you wake up, no matter what time you wake up, you're going to love it because you're doing what you love. So I think the first thing I can say is that. And if you want to try a career in sports, well, have a solid education to make sure you can bounce back. It's important to give it your all and see if it works.
It's amazing. It's fantastic. The players are so young, they're so young. They managed to hold their own. We told you the crowd is fired up. They're being attacked. It's incredible. It's amazing to see the excitement like this around a video game. It's incredible. Now we're going to leave quickly before we get ripped apart by the subscribers. Alright, bye everyone Guys. Bye.
