What EA Sports FIFA Championship Debut Might Mean for Local Esports 

It could be argued that the face of Esports in Nigeria is currently undergoing a transformation, which is well worth noting, writes Iyke Bede

Over time, the Nigerian gaming community has gained recognition as one of the fastest-growing gaming markets in West Africa. This, no doubt, has attracted the attention of international brands to explore the market to harness its potential.

For the first time, the EA Sports FIFA Championship, a global competitive gaming tournament organised by EA Sports, the developer and publisher of the FIFA video game series, will be held on African soil. 

Scheduled for May 13, Lagos will play host to the maiden edition in Africa, where 32 players will battle it out using the latest version of the FIFA game at The Jewel Aeida. The event, made possible through a partnership with Integral, its licensee in Nigeria, will have players advance through a series of stages that will be judged based on the number of wins, goal difference, and other tiebreakers to clinch the grand prize of $10,000. 

While EA Sports has been making headlines lately, it’s worth noting that Esports has been a steadily growing culture in Nigeria.

Since 2022, the Red Bull brand, marked by its marketing style that explores extreme sports and gaming activities, included Nigeria as one of the countries where its national championships are held for the Red Bull Kumite, an Esports based on the Street Fighter series. It has so far successfully hosted two editions. 

Similarly, Gamr Africa, an indigenous gaming company founded in Nigeria, hosted the maiden edition of Gamr X in 2022. The Esports tournament targeted gamers from 10 different African countries to compete in five different gaming titles: FIFA22, Mortal Kombat 11, PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, and Streetfighter.

Before these brands started picking interest in investing in the sector and showcasing local talents, the governing body of Esports in Nigeria, Esports Nigeria, started its league in 2020. With the progress attained so far, one would no longer say that Nigeria does not have an Esports culture. Rather, it now would be a debate of how far it has come compared to markets in Asia, Europe, and America. 

These bodies mostly addressed the issues of access to available resources, the absence of a recognised professional Esports competition, and tackling the problem of society’s negative perception of gamers. 

So far, the proliferation of all of these platforms points to one thing: the growing significance of the Esports sector. And with this significance comes a need to recognise and decorate the key stakeholders in this sector through prizes, sponsorships, endorsement deals, and elevation of status. These economic potentials have far-reaching effects, such as enticing more established platforms into the Nigerian Esports space. 

Cofounder of AfricaComicade, Oscar Michael, expressed that the interest shown by EA Sport is a welcome idea that will impact positive changes for gamers and stakeholders to chart a new course in the Esports sector. 

“Over the years, we know we have lots of professional EA Sports players here. Football is something Nigerians love, and we’ve had lots of events where people come to compete, and there have been issues. It’s like Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, has not been recognised globally,” stated Michael. 

He added, “And so, from clamouring for things like servers to allow us to compete on a global scale better, to even have the opportunity to compete and attend the global events. A lot of discussion has gone into it, a lot of stakeholders have put in their effort, and now we’re finally seeing the results of those efforts. This move is something the community is excited about. And it’s also going to help solidify all the activities done by the various stakeholders. It’s going to solidify the industry, give it more prospects in the eyes of both gamers and industry stakeholders.” 

Of course, tournaments in the EA Sports FIFA Championship league are bound to face their fair share of challenges just like those that precede it. However, how easily it can surmount such problems would determine the level of partnership it is willing to enter. Fortunately, the gaming sector in Nigeria is vastly untapped. 

Edu Shola, a Lagos-based game developer based in Lagos, told GAMING WEEK that the emergence of more Esports platforms offers more career opportunities to professionals and that the impact trickles down to other sectors within the gaming industry as well, especially in the area of commercialisation of indigenous games. 

“The increase in the number of Esports platforms emerging in Africa is an amazing one for the game industry, especially the gaming space. Soon, the focus would transcend the traditional games and focus on content created by Nigerian game developers,” explained Shola.

The game developer also mentioned that “when the world sees our capabilities, I believe it would draw the attention of stakeholders to invest in Nigerian-made games, thereby making the developer space a competitive one that has great market potential.” 

Shola added, “It also would affect the game development space in areas of publishing and distribution.” 

With such prospects, some still show concern over big international gaming companies eyeing to get a huge chunk of the 600 million global audiences in Esports, worried it could introduce unfavourable competition that may edge out startups that lack the financial strengths of established firms. They also pointed out that the user experience provided may be lacking in the diversity that indigenous companies may offer. 

But aside from directly impacting the gaming communities, such key events require the expertise and services of other sectors if they must succeed. 

In short, it would lead to boosting other adjacent sectors of the economy. 

By and large, the Esports sector in Nigeria, once described as having little economic potential, is poised to transform into an economic hub for young talented people who hope to venture in to make a name or career for themselves, partly solving the problem of unemployment that has steadily climbed in the past five years. Sadly, It could become a route for brain drain in the country as well. 

With differing opinions, what is established so far is the growth of the Nigerian Esports sector. But what remains to be seen is the trajectory it takes shortly. For now, may the best player win!