In the first seven days of Games of the Future, broadcasts of the competitions and the Opening Ceremony of the tournament have gained more than 1 billion views worldwide. This was announced at the Forum of National Achievements within the framework of the Russia International Exhibition by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko.
“Our country has been and remains one of the leading sports powers on the planet, the birthplace of great athletes, victories and records. We have always advocated the promotion of sport and its high humanistic values. Games of the Future is a unique event, it is taking place for the first time in the history of mankind. The whole world is watching it closely. Russia sets the trends of the global sports movement,” Dmitry Chernyshenko said.
Broadcasts are available worldwide for free and as convenient as possible for spectators. Games of the Future is the first tournament of this scale, focused on the online audience and the interests of young people who are used to watching content online. Partnership agreements have been signed with more than 100 streaming platforms – from YouTube and Twitch to local ones. Agreements have been concluded with large media holdings in many countries for television broadcasts. The success of the strategy was confirmed on the very first day of competition: only on one of the platforms in China YOTA Phygital MOBA. Dota 2 matches have been watched by more than 7 million people.
The increased interest in Games of the Future is explained, among other things, by the fact that they meet the needs of society, which, on the one hand, strives for digitalization in all spheres of life, and on the other – pays more attention to a healthy lifestyle and maintaining good physical shape. The symbiosis of activities in two dimensions – real and virtual – was called “phygital”. Phygital sports contribute to the development of a person who is harmonious in all respects.
“Brazil also has a problem with more and more young people spending too much time on gadgets. The most important thing is to maintain balance. This applies to all areas of our lives. Games of the Future brings to the masses the wonderful idea that people should develop harmoniously,” said Igor Rezende from the Tamo Junto team, a participant in the Gazprom Phygital Football tournament discipline.
At the same time, Games of the Future gives spectators a unique experience of an innovative sports show. Broadcasts of different disciplines are connected by an analytics studio and a Virtual Stadium, where each fan can place their digital avatar. The spectators have the opportunity to communicate with each other, participate in voting, support teams with virtual fires, as much as possible immersing themselves in the atmosphere of competition in two worlds at the same time. The culmination of the colorful presentation of the idea of phygital sports was the Opening Ceremony of Games of the Future, which surprised with a futuristic scenario and the use of complex technical solutions: platforms moving in two dimensions, projection screens, holograms, combining action on stage with an image on a huge screen, a mobile ring for Battle of robots, a Formula 4 car race.
“I am very happy to become a participant and winner of this tournament, because there is an incredibly high level both on virtual ice and on real ice. It feels no worse than the World Championship. And the Opening Ceremony can be compared to the Olympics. It was cooler than in 2014 in Sochi! If the phygital sport continues to develop, it will be very cool, especially for our younger generation,” said Dmitry Myachev, champion of Games of the Future in the Liga Stavok Phygital Hockey discipline from the Liga Pro Team.
Games of the Future is popular among residents and guests of Kazan. Almost all tickets for the competitions have been sold, and for the crucial stages of the YOTA Phygital MOBA. Dota 2 and Battle tanks simulator disciplines they sold out in a matter of minutes. The final of the esports competitions in the hall of the Kazan Expo IEC was attended by 2.5 thousand spectators.
“I was at The International and I can say that I liked the organization of Games of the Future more,” said Mario ILICH-Romero Valdivia, an esports player for the Peruvian BOOM Esports team.
“The competitions are well organized. They are definitely among the best that I have been able to visit. We are very comfortable in Russia, everything takes place in a very friendly atmosphere,” said Leo Branquinho, a player from the American R10 Team USA, who competes in the Phygital Basketball with SBER discipline.
The representative of the Serbian Partizan, the world youth basketball champion Marko Cakarevic, said that his team was glad to come to Russia, “because everything is joyful here: people, nature and cities. But most of all I would like to mention the weather. We like it, it’s nice to play basketball during the snow. In my opinion, Games of the Future is organized at the highest level. They can be compared to the World Championships.”
Information
Games of the Future is an international multisport tournament in the phygital concept, a sports show of a new format combining competitions in physical and digital dimensions. The technology partner is VK Play. More than 270 teams and more than 2,000 athletes from 107 countries are taking part in 21 innovative disciplines in the first Games of the Future. The competitions are divided into five categories, or challenges: sports, tactical, battle, technical, speedrun.
Title Sponsor is PAO Gazprom
General Sponsors:
PAO Gazprom Neft G-Drive
PAO Sibur Holding Sibur
OAO Russian Railways
OOO VK Company VK Play
PAO Sberbank SBER
OOO PMBK (Liga Stavok)
OOO INTERROS Holding Company Interros
PAO Megafon Yota
Official sponsors:
OOO PBO System – Vkusno – i Tochka
PAO Sollers / UAZ
PAO Aeroflot
OOO Wildberries
OOO NTS Gradient – Influence
Roscosmos State Corporation
AO Positive Technologies
AO Russian Post
OOO Nanobarrier – HyDrop
AO Kaspersky Laboratory – Kaspersky
More information about the tournament can be found on the official channels of Games of the Future: