‘It’s like Wimbledon’: Games of the Future boss shares numbers and plans for next tournaments

The number of views last week's Games of the Future opening ceremony in Kazan has garnered is comparable to the Wimbledon tennis tournament, Igor Stolyarov, the head of Games of the Future has told journalists and spectators. He believes it's a number to be proud of, but it's more important to keep going, because every internet user is a potential viewer. He also explained why Kazan was chosen to host the Games and what can change in the tournament's program in the future.

– Why was Kazan chosen to host the Games?

– Because it's the best city on earth. Although this year's winter has been a little too snowy.

– Who was the first investor in the project?

– Gazprom.

– We become part of history together. How did all the plans materialize?

– Gazprom helped here, too again (laughs). In reality, we have a large number of prime partners: Sberbank, Russian Railways, Sibur Holding, and so on. Among ourselves, we call them the Pantheon of the Gods. Business leaders spend money to solve social challenges.

– Can you explain for those new to the project what the concept of the Games of the Future was?

– To be honest, this is one of my least favorite topics, because the information can be found in almost any public source. I think everyone knows by now that phygital gaming is a sports tournament in which participants first demonstrate their skills in the virtual domain and then in the real one. The same athletes battle it out on game consoles and then go out on the ice, grass or hardwood, depending on the discipline.

– But not all disciplines in Kazan strictly match the concept of phygital, do they?

– Yes, you're right. Only nine disciplines out of all those represented can be called purely sporting. The rest are either pure cybersports or high-tech innovative disciplines. Take, for example, drone racing, competitive programming or robot battle. And the latter is a world-class show. If you have not bought tickets to the show, I'm afraid you won't be able to, there are practically none left. On a separate note, I should mention cybersports, because it is a phenomenon that cannot be ignored. Billions of people are engaged in it, and this is not just a catchword, but a reality.

– I've heard that the cybathletics tournament [for participants that use assistive technologies, such as prosthetics] doesn't fit into the overall concept of the Games.

– Not true, everything fits perfectly. These people are heroes in their own right. They already have unique abilities. And modern technologies help them live their lives to the fullest.

– Which disciplines have exceeded expectations and which, on the other hand, require fine-tuning in the future?

– There were mishaps with the attendance of the World of Tanks tournament. It was not very strong. Something went wrong there, and the attendance was lower than we had expected. On the plus side, basketball, robot battle and, of course, Dota 2 did great. Great picture, good attendance and atmosphere.

– Are there plans to increase the number of disciplines at the next Games?

– Yes, without a doubt. You only have to walk through the City of the Future to realize this. There's phygital rugby, phygital golf and more. They are very likely to be part of the program of the next competitions. There are also thoughts of introducing summer sports that can be held outdoors or on open water.

– They say about a billion people watched the broadcast of the opening ceremony?

– We didn't expect such an audience... But it's great, am I right? Success largely depends on being able to create a new content distribution system, and in our case, it was built practically from scratch. There are specialized media channels that are popular with cybathletes. Many people have simply never heard of it. We signed contracts with all such platforms. Then we moved beyond that and made arrangements with streamers and media groups around the world. Of course, we are talking about those countries that we are allowed to enter, because there are off-limits regions: North America, Western Europe and so on. However, we have China, Brazil, UAE, Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. We broadcast to all of these nations. We are often asked about coverage, what kind of numbers we are talking about. My answer is that we cover all people who have access to the Internet. Our streams can be seen in 240 different venues all over the planet. So, the potential audience is everyone who accesses the World Wide Web. And the main goal is to get a three billion viewership. When I said that, a lot of people though I was going nuts. Well, let's count and take stock. It is important not to rest on our oars.

– What tournament can you compare the Games of the Future to in terms of viewership?

– Wimbledon. It had a billion viewers in 2023, too. But it's 147 years old, and the Games of the Future are a year old. Is that something to be proud of? Yes! But we can’t be, because we have to move on.

– Why weren't tickets sold for the opening ceremony?

– The point is that there were many accredited persons, and we could not accommodate everyone who wanted to attend. We made changes and took into account our missteps. Anyone will be able to attend the closing ceremony.

– Adults believe that children who are addicted to computer games are socialized too late. In your opinion, at what age should you start a career as a cyber athlete?

– There are so many different games. The border between cybersports and video games is legislated differently in different countries. In certain cases, a game can be entered into the register of sporting disciplines, and official competitions are held. Such a career takes years of training, and to some it starts even from pre-school age.