On November 19th and 20th 2022, the Farming Simulator League (FSL) Season 4 World Championship gets underway. We caught up with UK caster and YouTuber, Virtual Farmer, about what it’s like casting in a non-typical esports tournament and and being one of the original two commentators for the first season.
What is the Farming Simulator League and what’s going on in Season 4?
A Farming Simulator League (FSL) knockout competition on October 22nd and 23rd determined the eight finalists for the FSL Season 4 World Championship.
On November 19th and 20th from 10am CET each day, the FSL Season 4 World Championship will bring the current season of Giants Software’s competitive esports league to its conclusion. The top eight teams of the season will face each other in Erlangen, Germany, for their share of the €100,000 prize pool and to crown the FSL Season 4 winner.
New Holland (formerly known as Fermiers Flamboyants) join the likes of mYinsanity, DJK Ehenfeld, Lindner, Bednar and Valtra and Trelleborg in the finals, with the last place to be decided as Astragon and Corteva Agriscience achieved identical results during
the season, sharing eight place in the rankings.
Astragon is the team of German publisher Astragon Entertainment, a subsidiary of Team17 Group PLC.
“It will be a spectacular ending to the fourth season”, comments Claas Eilermann, event and esports manager at Giants Software. “Especially with our newcomers fighting their way to the top in an instant, we can look back at an exceptional season. Special thanks go out to our sponsors and partners who made the fourth season possible.”
A free to download Tournament Client for Season 4 invites every Farming Simulator fan and esports enthusiast to register and compete. The esports game mode is based on the PC version of Farming Simulator 19 and requires teamwork to expertly harvest wheat, produce bales and quickly deliver them to a barn. A training mode for newcomers is also included.
Five minutes with UK caster Virtual Farmer on Farming Simulator esports
UK content creator Virtual Farmer has a YouTube channel and also casts Farming Simulator esports.
“I got involved with the FSL from the very start!” he tells Esports News UK. I was one of the original two commentators for the first season (which was known as the Farming Simulator Championship) back in 2018.
“Giants asked if any of the creators from the Farming Simulator community would be interested in coming to their annual convention for the game (known as FarmCon) to commentate on a competition they were running. I volunteered and, as they say, the rest is history.
“I love casting for the FSL! Every tournament is different and full of surprises! It also has a really close-knit and friendly community around it. It’s just a joy to be a part of.”
“I think this is one of the most fun and unusual esports out there and it always hooks people in when they stumble across it. Without fail, we get someone in the chat every tournament who starts off going “What am I watching?” but will be there three hours later cheering on the teams and saying they were glad they found us!”
Virtual Farmer, YouTuber and Caster
What about the storylines heading into the season 4 finals?
“There are a few really interesting stories in the current season,” Virtual Farmer says. “Trelleborg’s continued dominance through the season has been wonderful to watch, but there are several teams who are now nipping at their heels.
“Fermiers Flamboyants (who have recently become the official team for New Holland) have had a very strong back half of the season, even defeating Trelleborg in tournament 5 to win that one. MyInsanity and DJK Ehenfeld have also had really strong back halves of the season too.
“I think the FSL is one of the most fun and unusual esports out there and it always hooks people in when they stumble across it. Without fail, we get someone in the chat every tournament who starts off going “What am I watching” who will be there three hours later cheering on the teams and saying they were glad they found us!”
For more information about the Farming Simulator League, you can visit fsl.giants-software.com and watch the finals on the official Giants Software Twitch channel
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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.
