Image source: iStock | Brazzo | Used with permission
For transparency: Esports News UK editor Dom Sacco used to work full-time for British Esports between September 2016 and February 2021, and currently does some freelance work for them, producing their weekly email newsletter.
Update (February 15th 2022): The British Esports Association has announced it is responsible for coordinating and supporting European esports teams at the upcoming Commonwealth Esports Championships.
Mark Weller of Vexed Gaming will be team manager for England, while John Jackson and Esports Wales will be selecting the Welsh players, and James Hood and Esports Scotland will be choosing the Scottish players.
Gweirydd Davies, chair of the board at Esports Wales, said: “With the dramatic rise of esports in recent years, it is a great honour to see Wales competing on the global stage in the Commonwealth Esports Championships. We look forward to working together in partnership to further develop a pathway for an inclusive, progressive, and visionary future for Esports in Wales and beyond.”
James Hood, CEO of Esports Scotland, commented: “We are delighted esports will be represented in Birmingham at this summer’s Commonwealth Esports Championships. We want to unite Scotland’s gamers, coaches and fans to represent the Scottish esports community and compete on the global stage – and hopefully we can bring some gold medals home.”
Support will be given by British Esports to the European teams in the live finals per title, including kit, training and boot camps. As the Commonwealth Esports Championships are separate from the Commonwealth Games, esports teams will be wearing a separate kit created for the esports championships.
Competitors may represent either the competitor’s Commonwealth Country of birth, or the Commonwealth Country of birth to which one of their parents belong (by citizenship/passport).
The following teams will be able to enter regional qualifiers to compete in the Commonwealth Esports Championships: Cyprus, England, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Malta, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
It is anticipated that only one of the European teams per competition will progress and compete in the live finals in Birmingham, alongside the winners from the other regional qualifiers across the Commonwealth.
Game titles – announced on March 15th 2022 – are Dota 2, eFootball and Rocket League.
Original article (February 9th 2022):
Readers of the Daily Mail appear to be confused and troubled that esports will be a part of their dear Commonwealth Games this year.
UK city Birmingham will host the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships and Commonwealth Esports Forum this summer – a result of a partnership between the Global Esports Federation and the Commonwealth Games Federation first announced back in 2020.
Both events will take place at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham, with the Forum running on August 5th 2022 and the Championships – which will feature a range of to-be-confirmed titles and ‘active esports’ – from August 6th to 7th.
The Daily Mail reports that Dota 2 is being considered. This comes after the Great Britain Dota 2 women’s team won a silver medal at the 2021 Global Esports Games. (Update, March 15th 2022 – the confirmed games are Dota 2, Rocket League and eFootball).
The new competition in Birmingham will also be supported by the British Esports Association, as well as the Business and Tourism Programme (BATP), which aims to ‘maximise the economic legacy’ of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the West Midlands Growth Company, which drives tourism, investment and events into the region.
And heaven forbid should an ageing event like the Commonwealth Games search for increased relevancy and popularity in video games.
“How can couch potatoes be on the same roster as athletes? It doesn’t make any logical sense.”
Mr Tea, Daily Mail reader from Oxford
We’ve been here before, of course, with the Olympics getting involved in esports to reach a younger demographic with initiatives like the Olympics Virtual Series, the Intel World Open and more.
But Daily Mail readers just won’t have it.
“Wtf this is nightmare,” bemoaned one reader below Daily Mail chief sports feature writer Riath Al-Samarrai’s tweet linking to his article on today’s news.
“Joke decision,” wailed another Twitter user Endeavour.
“If you thought beach volleyball and cricket were controversial inclusions to the Commonwealth Games, prepare to be surprised,” Riath starts his article, leading to an angry mob in the Daily Mail’s comment section.
“Good grief. What crap is this? Makes a mockery of real sport!” one reader shrieked.
Steve120 from London said the move was “total rubbish” and that esports “is not a physical sport or form of exercise”.
“Couch potatoes to the fore!” said OldLincolnion from Waterlooville.
“How can couch potatoes be on the same roster as athletes? It doesn’t make any logical sense,” mused Mr Tea from Oxford.
“Absolute nonsense,” declared Flintofwath from Sheffield.
Juggler83 from Cheshire made the point: “Darts has a better claim to be there.”
“Bring in tiddly winks and hop scotch. A gold medal for farting should be introduced as well.”
Daily Mail readers
“Bring in tiddly winks and hop scotch,” another reader, Morpethian from Poland, added, while Londoner Richard Head suggested the organisers should also include poker and chess.
Charlie Tully from Liverpool made an unusual suggestion: “A gold medal for farting should be introduced as well.”
Welsh user Lilibet Diana, one of Daily Mail’s more humorous readers, commented: “That will be exciting to watch – not.”
Direkt from Glasgow said: “Won’t work. You cant get a gamer to leave their room never mind the house, plus there is the shouting, swearing and tantrums. Not exactly family viewing.”
Chris Chan, president of the Global Esports Federation, had a more positive outlook. He said: “The inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships comes hot on the heels of the first-ever Singapore 2021 Global Esports Games staged in December 2021, capturing more than 500m views from around the world.
“The Commonwealth Esports Championships offers our community another exciting event in the global esports calendar. We look forward to welcoming the esports community to Birmingham in August.”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
