The Farming Simulator games have enjoyed somewhat surprisingly popular demand over the years, and now, following a move into esports, the first Farming Simulator UK esports event has been announced.
Publisher and developer Giants Software will be present at LAMMA 2024, the UK’s leading industry event for agricultural machinery, connecting farmers across a range of sectors with companies offering the latest technology (in other words, tractors and stuff). LAMMA stands for the Lincolnshire Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Association.
Giants will feature Farming Simulator 22, the latest game in the series, plus the esports Farming Simulator League, at the LAMMA event, which takes place at the Birmingham NEC from January 17th to 18th 2023.
The first farming esports tournament on UK soil
While Season 5 of the Farming Simulator League (FSL) continues on November 17th and 18th 2023 at Agritechnica in Germany, the FSL tournament at LAMMA will mark a premiere.
In between 600 exhibitors, an expected 35,000 visitors will get the opportunity to witness virtual agriculture in a competitive environment for the first time in the UK.
The team from the German publisher Astragon Entertainment with Matthias Becker aka Bauer Matze as captain, as well as Thomas Calamaras aka Calamaras, and Christian Klug aka Major Melon, will once again take part in both tournaments, including the Farming Simulator UK esports event.
The Farming Simulator League is played in the Arena mode within the multiplayer section.
All visitors at LAMMA can put their hands on Farming Simulator 22 at dedicated gaming stations. Everyone not able to visit can follow the FSL tournament online: all matches will be streamed on official Giants channels in English and German.
“The world of esports may be new to some in our industry, but we know that a lot of farmers are also gamers”, commented Sarah Whittaker-Smith, Event Director at LAMMA.
“With more than 150 farming brands and big machinery names also getting involved, LAMMA is the perfect venue for Farming Simulator League’s first UK event. It brings something totally unique to LAMMA 2024, and we can’t wait to bring FSL to a new audience.”
Sarah Whittaker-Smith, LAMMA, on the first Farming Simulator UK esports event
“Farming Simulator is about growth – and with our attendance at LAMMA, we continue to cultivate our international presence and even put new seeds into the soil by expanding the Farming Simulator League. We’re very happy and look forward to meeting new interested farmers and players in the UK”, added Boris Stefan, Head of Publishing at Giants Software.
Farming Simulator 22 is available for PC, Mac, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4 and Xbox One.
While this is the first official Farming Simulator esports event in the UK, there’s actually another smaller activity taking place later this month! Epic 40 will host a Staff vs Community match.
Further information about FSL can be found at fsl.giants-software.com and on the official Farming Simulator website
Related article: ‘I love casting for the Farming Simulator League!’ UK caster Virtual Farmer
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.
