The inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships and Commonwealth Esports Forum will be staged in Birmingham, England this summer. The Championships is a tangible result of the Strategic Partnership between the Global Esports Federation and the Commonwealth Games Federation, announced in May 2020. The new competition in Birmingham will be supported by the British Esports Association, the not-for-profit national body established in 2016 to promote esports in the UK, increase its level of awareness, improve standards and inspire future talent.
The Commonwealth Esports Championships will take place at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham on 6-7 August 2022. The Commonwealth Esports Forum – a global convention of thought leaders and idea creators – will be held at the same venue in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Esports Championships on 5 August 2022.
The Commonwealth Esports Championships will feature esports athletes from across the Commonwealth. Renowned multi-genre global titles are in the final stages of confirmation and will be announced shortly. The event is set to feature exciting demonstrations showcasing Active Esports and the powerful technologies that support the convergence of sport and esports.
The Commonwealth Esports Championships was sanctioned by the CGF Executive Board to be held at the same time as the 2022 Commonwealth Games whilst being independent of Birmingham 2022 and its sports programme. The Commonwealth Esports Championships will have separate branding, medals, organisation, and governance, led by the GEF and its community of partners.
The event is supported by the Business and Tourism Programme (BATP), which aims to maximise the economic legacy of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, as well as the regional economic development agency, the West Midlands Growth Company, which drives long-term tourism, investment, and major events into the region.
Exploring esports is one of the recommendations outlined in the new Commonwealth Sport 2026/30 strategic roadmap. The aspiration is that the innovative inaugural event will engage new audiences, showcase the digital and gaming credentials of the West Midlands and enable the Commonwealth Sport Movement to further explore the impact and potential of esports as part of the roadmap.
Commonwealth Games Federation president Dame Louise Martin said, “I am delighted that we are announcing the first Commonwealth Esports Championships and Commonwealth Esports Forum to take place in Birmingham this summer. Esports is continuing to grow dramatically in terms of popularity and participation, particularly amongst young people, and we are continuing to look at ways to explore how it can align with the Commonwealth Sports Movement. Commonwealth Esports Championships provides an excellent opportunity to pilot esports close to the Commonwealth Games. This will allow us to review the long-term relationship between the Commonwealth Games and esports as we continue to evolve and explore future editions of our event and what they could look like. I would like to thank the Global Esports Federation for their partnership with this exciting event, including the British Esports Association and the Business and Tourism Programme, who will help us bring this concept to life.”
Global Esports Federation president Chris Chan shared, “We are proud to establish yet another first for the world’s esports community. The inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships comes hot on the heels of the first-ever Singapore 2021 Global Esports Games staged in December 2021, capturing more than 500 million views from around the world. The Commonwealth Esports Championships offers our community another exciting event in the global esports calendar. We look forward to welcoming the esports community to Birmingham in August.”
British Esports Association CEO and founder Chester King shared, “When we established the BEA in 2016, we did it with the aspiration that esports would become recognised for the incredible value it provides its community. The gaming community has long understood that esports helps teamwork, communication and strategic thinking together with combating loneliness, but alongside this, it creates opportunities for its athletes to participate in a team environment in a similar way to traditional sport with all the benefits. We advocate the values of representation, whether that is your team, school, county, or country and as such are delighted to see the Commonwealth Games Federation recognises its potential too.Furthermore, it is an honour that we get to showcase the values of esports whilst the Commonwealth Games is underway here in the UK. The BEA is fresh from the successful participation at the Global Esports Games which took place in Singapore in December 2021, where the Great Britain team secured its first medal (silver in the DOTA 2 women’s competition).”
Birmingham City Council leader Cllr Ian Ward shared, “As the country’s fastest-growing tech cluster, responsible for a quarter of British games products, Birmingham and the West Midlands is a thriving hub of creativity and development, reflecting one of the UK’s youngest and most diverse communities. Having developed iconic gaming titles such as Formula One, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Forza, there isn’t a better-suited location to host the Commonwealth Esports Championships, bringing together young competitors from across the world. This unique sporting competition builds on the region’s rising reputation as a hotbed for large-scale, globally aired Championships; the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games representing the latest major event to captivate audiences worldwide, also taking place this year. Through the Business and Tourism Programme, we look forward to working with the Commonwealth Games Federation and Global Esports Federation to bring this truly exciting event to Birmingham.”
West Midlands mayor Andy Street shared, “I am thrilled that the first ever Commonwealth Esports Championships will be staged this summer right here in the West Midlands. To put in perspective the sheer scale of the potential ahead of us, the first-ever Global Esports Games in Singapore in December 2021 attracted more than 500 million views from around the world. And with the West Midlands’s growing status as an esports hub, I am incredibly excited to see how we build on last year’s success. The Championships are also a brilliant example of our Business and Tourism Programme in action, ensuring we use the platform of the Commonwealth Games to bring in new investment that will benefit the West Midlands long beyond the 11 days of sporting excellence.”
Esports and the Commonwealth:
- 65 per cent of the Commonwealth’s two billion citizens are under the age of 30.
- Data suggests that 16-24 year-olds are more likely to watch esports tournaments (32 per cent) than traditional sports tournaments (31 per cent) with 44 per cent watching live streams of video games.
- 89 per cent of adults in the Commonwealth have a mobile connection today and just under half of them are using data services.
- Among adults in the Commonwealth who access the internet, 82 per cent access it on mobile devices.
Esports Federation of India director and Asian Esports Federation (AESF) VP Lokesh Suji, shared, “Growth and potential of esports is overwhelming and you will have to get involved, sooner the better. Just like Olympics, “esports” is one of the recommendations outlined in the new Commonwealth Sport 2026/30 Strategic Roadmap. Commonwealth Games is another big sporting event in line with Asian Games, it’s reassuring to see that Commonwealth has also openly decided to engage with esports (with this side event) and soon esports will be a medal sport in CW games too. We would like to thank Dame Louise Martin (CGF President), Chris Chan (GEF President), Chester King (British Esports Association founder ) and the whole team at Global Esports Federation (GEF), who made this happen. Effectively we now have two big events for our Indian esports community – Asia Games’22 (medal event) and CW Esports Championship’22. As the member federation of GEF we are equally excited on this announcement.”