REVIEW OF THE FIFA GLOBAL SERIES ONE AND FIFA ESPORTS INVESTMENT IN AFRICA WITH KAYLAN.

FGS 1 (AFRICA)

The FIFA Global Series Africa Qualifiers is an online competition in which the top 32 skill-rated FIFA players in Africa battle it out for the number one position, a place in the open qualifiers for the FIFA eWorld Cup, and a cash prize of $3,500. To learn more about the competition, visit the official website by clicking here.

Essentially, you must register first on the EA website, play in the division rivals of the FIFA game, get to the Elite division, and eventually be placed as one of the 32 players on the continent. The qualifiers are open to the five eligible countries recognized by Electronic Arts: Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, and Kenya.

The qualifiers are divided into three, and the first occurred from the 7th-8th of January 2023. EA does not provide official broadcast streams, but the players take it upon themselves to provide streams in certain instances. The tournament takes a Swiss round format for the initial stage and then switches to straight elimination in the knockout rounds.

The eventual winner of this tournament was?Kaylan, a professional FIFA esports player from South Africa, and Gamr had the opportunity to interview him.

On his experience in the tournament, Kaylan said:

?????????????“The FGS is a very competitive event because you play against 31 top FIFA players like yourself, and because it is a Swiss/knockout round format, you need to have a lot of focus.”

The full review of the tournament can be found on the?Battlefly website.

FIFA’S INVESTMENT IN AFRICA

Recently, Bravado Gaming announced that they wish to part ways with the FIFA esports scene after 6 years with them. This might look like ordinary news, but Bravado Gaming is one of the few esports teams with active FIFA players in Africa.

This news made it imperative for a deep dive into the sustainability of the ecosystem for the players and other stakeholders in Africa.

Starting Point

FIFA players kick-start their professional journey by participating in the competitive side of the game called?FIFA ULTIMATE TEAM (FUT),?which involves playing online events to rank up, achieve certain objectives, and ultimately place in certain tournaments.

To participate, players must get good in-game players in different positions by winning them after achieving certain objectives, making trades, or using FUT coins.

On this, Kaylan said he uses an untradable team and relies on?loan players?because players outside Africa mostly spend a lot of money to get players, but it is not feasible in Africa. The reason is that there are not a lot of tournaments in Africa, like the partner leagues, for example, and Africa does not have so many playoff spots in global events.

Financial Analysis

Let’s take a practical look at things, take the FGS Africa qualifiers, for example. In 2022, a player like xKandil – who was one of the top-ranked players from Africa in 2022 – from Egypt won a total of $6,000, having placed first and second in the FGS 1 and 3, respectively. Kaylan is also one of Africa’s top-ranked FIFA esports players every year. In 2022, he won a total of?$24,125?in official EA tournaments and?$15,000?from the?Ooredoo Nation FIFA tournament.

Fnatic Tekkz, on the other hand, was able to win a total of?$120,422?from EA tournaments in 2022. Some of these tournaments include; FGS Team of the Year Cup, FGS Europe West Qualifiers, FGS: Masters Cup and a host of other tournaments. This comparison highlights the number of tournaments available for players in both regions to compete in and win prizes from.

From the above, readers can understand the viability of FIFA esports investment/pro route in Africa, as opposed to a pro outside of Africa. In Africa, the prizes for the FGS Africa have been reduced from the top 3 getting $3,500, $2,500 and $1,500, respectively, to the winner just getting a prize ($3,500). On the flip side, teams get to invest the minimum salary for players/coaches, purchase FUT coins in some instances, and purchase equipment; all of these run into thousands of dollars.?

On possible investment in the ecosystem, Kaylan said:?

“Due to the current limitations in tournaments in Africa and the reduction in the prizes for FGS continental qualifiers, this year is probably not the best year to invest in players solely on the competitive side.”

Going Forward

Kaylan’s position on investment suggests a change in approach by players who now did not want to not just wait on earnings from competitive play but also look to delve into the content creation aspect of the industry.?

For brands and companies, there are opportunities for involvement in the space. An example is the brilliant?marketing campaign?that?Burger King did in 2019 through 2022.?Brands can also take advantage of EA’s new competition format this year, named the Mid-season Majors. This event is an open competition for players worldwide to compete for a chance to be a part of the FGS playoffs, with a $500,000 prize pool attached to them.

EXTRAS (FIFAe)

The play-ins for the FIFAe Nations League Qualifiers took place in January. This saw 3 African countries compete, with South Africa competing in the division one qualifiers of the event and Morocco and Ghana competing in the division two qualifiers. Only South Africa had the opportunity of by-passing the main stage qualifiers by placing in the top two, but they narrowly missed out, as they finished third in the division one group.

South Africa, Ghana, and Morocco will be able to battle it out with other countries in the Middle East/Africa region during the main stage qualifiers.?

UPCOMING EVENTS

FGS Africa Qualifier 2 – February 18th-19th, 2023.

The article was written by?Stephen Ojo?and edited by?Henry Utomudo.