According to the Ukrainian ua.news portal, Vladislav Leen Stepanov, who is a CS:GO player of the Ukrainian L&G eSports team belonging to the famous businesswoman Alona Shevtsova, was transferred to the Monte Gen academy of another local high-profile team Monte. As of today, the first lineup of the team occupies the 9th place in the world ranking.

Vladislav has been playing CS:GO for L&G since March 2023. He held the position of the defensive rifler and spacing positions for attack.

Vladislav joined the team together with another player David Merl Davidyan and coach Dmitry rjy Chumak. Immediately after the transfer, Leen said that L&G is a very cohesive and persistent team, so it will definitely show its real potential in the near future. And that’s what’s actually happened! In just a few months after the lineup update, the team showed excellent results in the most popular tournaments and reached the top 100 of the world in the prestigious HLTV rating.

“L&G is a cool team, and these guys really know everything about teamwork. Therefore, I am sure that we will show our real level soon. Our progress is much faster than in other teams,” says Vladislav Leen Stepanov.

Alexander Dovzhenko, who is the founder of ENTER ESPORT agency, which promotes L&G, thanked Vladislav Leen Stepanov for a strong partnership with L&G and wished him great achievements in the new team.

“Together with Vlad, we spent one of the most productive periods of our team. In addition to professional relationships, we managed to establish good personal relationships. We would like to thank Vladislav for his contribution to the development of our team and wish him good luck and achievement of his goals in the new team,” said Alexander Dovzhenko, CEO of ENTER ESPORT.

He also recalled that the L&G team started competing in top tournaments and almost immediately made its way to the Advanced division of the ESEA League Europe. In addition, the team participated and won prizes in such European tournaments as the SCL League, WhiteBit Crypto Open, Phoenix League, and local competitions.

The L&G eSports team was founded in 2021 on the initiative of Alona Shevtsova, a Ukrainian businesswoman, philanthropist, and active participant in the Ukrainian fintech community. Both in Ukraine and abroad, Alona Shevtsova is known as the founder of the LEO International Payment System. In addition, she was a shareholder and chairman of the supervisory board of a large Ukrainian bank. Alona Shevtsova uses the money earned in business for various charitable, educational, and cultural projects, as well as to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Saudi Arabia is undergoing a significant shift. The nation is adopting competitive video gaming, which not only offers many young Saudis a novel kind of entertainment but it is also a chance to boost the local economy. Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud has been a big fan of competitive gaming himself playing Call of Duty, Valorant, and a number of other popular titles.

With 465.1 million viewers in 2021, the number of viewers for global esports increased 6.7% year over year. According to Statista, esports’ commercial revenue will increase by over 50% from $1.08 billion in 2020 to $1.62 billion in 2024. The esports business has seen continuing investment thanks to the anticipated increase in revenue.

KSA has the highest revenues in eSports

According to the Arabic Gulf States Institute in Washington, Saudi Arabia is predicted to earn $1.62 billion from esports revenue in 2024 alone, and that is only the beginning.

Saudi Arabia initially took its time embracing eSports, but now it regularly hosts top-tier competitions for video games such as  FIFA, PUBG, Fortnite, League of Legends, Dota 2, and others. While some events are still off the radar, the kingdom’s interest in video games is unquestionably rising.

Call of Duty and Overwatch Leagues are also keen to include more teams from the country but going international requires a massive logistics effort. In the meantime, though, Saudi Arabia is currently earning well from the existing eSports infrastructure that is already in place. The best online eSports betting sites are already featuring events, thus the market for competitive gaming is expanding.

Betting on Saudi Arabia’s eSports events is also becoming more and more popular in North America and Europe, where customers and followers are eager to check out the gaming schedule and place bets when the chance arises. The kingdom is somewhat reticent to engage in this activity, although it is actively seeking to increase the number of S-tier competitions.

However, Saudi Arabia is also gaining from video games in other ways.   One of those strategies is the kingdom’s current appeal to global gaming corporations. The nation is investing $37.8 billion to woo more businesses, and top talent as well as to make a general transition away from its reliance on the oil industry.

What will the country focus on next?

With Saudi Arabia clearly having a decent stake in eSports, the question that most people are asking is where is it headed next. The simple answer is that Saudi Arabia will continue to gain pace, but as the crown prince noted, this will not be dependent on just one element of the gaming experience.

Instead, Saudi Arabia will need to change, develop, and generally advance toward a future in which it excels in gaming on all fronts. The prince is keen to raise more money and promote his nation as an accepting and progressive location suitable for the top game developers in the globe.

The prince values this just as much as participating in and hosting some of the largest eSports competitions. However, Saudi Arabia would ideally like to host The International and League of Legends Worlds, the two most important esports competitions. Diplomacy and a dedication to upholding human rights will determine whether the nation is successful. This year’s FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar, which is fantastic news for the region as it continues to develop and draw tourists from around the world for sport and entertainment.

Notable Saudi eSport Players 

Abdulaziz Alshehri won the FIFA Interactive World Cup in 2015, making him the first Saudi to do it. Mossad Aldossary followed his success and was named the FIFA eWorld Champion in 2018. He also took first place in the 2019 FIFA Champion Cup. In 2020, Najd Fahd became the first Saudi woman to win an e-football championship by taking first place in the female category of the FISU eSports Challenge, a FIFA20 event.

Conclusion

Over the next years, Saudi Arabia will need to demonstrate that it is ready to adopt the game-centric culture of the rest of the globe, which encourages freedom of expression and shatters social stereotypes. It may seem like a difficult task for Saudi Arabia, but if it wants to become a global esports powerhouse, it must embrace the sport both physically and spiritually. It must decide what to do.

The Canadian esports industry has enjoyed a remarkable growth curve in recent years and it should continue to flourish during this new age of contagion. Many esports firms have opted to go public in Canada as its stock exchanges impose fewer regulations than their prominent US counterparts. That has seen Canadian capital markets play a central role in driving the global esports boom.

Competitive gaming is also growing increasingly popular in Canada. Last year, analytics firm NewZoo revealed that 1.5 million Canadians watch esports on a monthly basis. That figure has spiked in 2020 after traditional sporting events were postponed as a result of the Covid-19.

Fans cannot pack out stadiums to watch their favourite CS:GO, Dota 2 and LoL stars in action right now. However, the events have gone digital instead, allowing viewers to enjoy gripping action 24/7 during the lockdown.

Players Become Millionaires

A decade ago, competitive gaming was a niche, underground pursuit in Canada. The first star gamer to put the country on the map was Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling, who led Evil Geniuses to victory in The International 2015. By that point, The International had firmly established itself as the world’s richest esports tournament, and prize money that year stood at a cool $18.4 million (US dollars).

Aui_2000 and his four teammates took home a first prize of more than $6.6 million, making him an overnight millionaire and inspiring legions of young Canadians to follow in his footsteps. Aui_2000 has never managed to scale such impressive heights again, but Artour “Arteezy” Babaev has flown the flag for Canada with aplomb on the Dota 2 scene.

Arteezy is now a key member of the Evil Geniuses Dota 2 team, and he helped them finish third at The International 2018. Teammate Tal “Fly” Aizik is an Israeli/Canadian pro, with career earnings of $2.4 million. That makes him the highest-paid Canadian gamer of all time, ahead of Arteezy, who has earned $2.25 million, and Aui_2000 with $2 million.

Hayden “Elevate” Krueger also hit headlines when he secured a third placed finish in the duos event at last year’s Fortnite World Cup. He was just 16 years old at the time, and in one fell swoop he earned a $955,000 prize.

Williams “Zayt” Aubin, a 19-year-old Canadian, finished fourth in the duos event at the Fortnite World Cup, netting $750,000. He is now 20 and his career earnings stand at $1.1 million.

CS:GO is actually the most popular esports game in Canada. There are 19 pro squads in the country, and it has yielded many famous players, including Twistzz, NAF, stanislaw and shroud. Canada also has a thriving StarCraft II scene, while the likes of SquishyMuffinz and JKnaps have flourished at Rocket League.

Mergers and Acquisitions Spell Big Business

The success of these players has fuelled considerable interest in pro gaming among Canadians. Yet the country plays an even more important role behind the scenes. Both domestic and international companies have listed on the TSX, TSXV and CSE as a result of the favourable regulatory framework it offers.

This has led to a raft of opportunities for investors and legal professionals in Canada, creating jobs and boosting the economy, while putting the country at the centre of a thriving global industry.

We have seen some large mergers and acquisitions over the past year. On August 30, 2019, a Canadian esports behemoth was formed when Aquilini GameCo Inc. completed its acquisition of Luminosity Gaming Inc. and Luminosity Gaming (USA), LLC, as well as its subsequent amalgamation with J55 Capital Corp. The enlarged firm, Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc., now owns eight esports teams, including the popular Vancouver Titans Overwatch League franchise, along with 40 esports influencers, more than 100 gaming media websites, and more than 900 YouTube and Twitch channels.

A Flourishing Scene

Canada is now a hotbed for esports teams, streamers and publishers. Last year, the country’s largest dedicated esports arena opened in the heart of downtown Montreal. The Esports Central Gaming Complex boasts 94 cutting-edge PCs, 26 consoles, six racing simulators, two Virtuix Omni VR stations and more.

“It’s more than just entertainment, we’re here to unite the gaming community under one roof,” said Delilah Kanou, Esports Central’s president. “It’s a place to grow and thrive, with a supportive network of like-minded gamers. It’s the destination where future esports champions will emerge.”

Social distancing is the name of the game right now, but projects like Esports Central will help the competitive gaming scene flourish long into the future in Canada. The popularity of the scene will continue to soar in the years ahead. In 2019, NewZoo revealed that there were 450 million esports viewers around the world.

That figure will soar in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. Gambling companies have reported a surge in demand for esports wagering markets during the absence of traditional sport and, as you can see here, there are a number of exciting options for fans to choose from.

The Sky is the Limit

It shows just how mainstream the esports scene is becoming. Fans of hockey, football and basketball might have previously written off pro gaming as the domain of nerdy types and shown zero interest in esports. Now they are clamouring to watch Dota 2, CS:GO and Rocket League tournaments.

Pro gamers are now multimillionaires with massive social media followings and highly aspirational lifestyles. Canadian gamers relate to them and want to follow in their footsteps, and this trend should one day help esports usurp traditional sports in the popularity stakes.

That might sound far-fetched, but competitive gaming is still in its infancy and it is already more popular than many traditional sports. It significantly over-indexes among teenagers and young adults, and they are the future. It will continue to become more exciting and dynamic each year thanks to advances in technology such as AR and VR, while traditional sports will remain staid and static.

Esports has the potential to become the most popular form of entertainment in the world, and Canada has the opportunity to remain at the heart of the trend. The future looks very bright indeed.