eSports and Northern Arena makes a big splash at Fan Expo Canada

Northern Arena hosted a live and viewable eSports extravaganza at Fan Expo in Toronto

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

eSports is continuing its surge in popularity which was recently punctuated by a huge showing at Fan Expon in downtown Toronto. Northern Arena hosted 16 teams from around the world battling for more than $100,000.00.

"Northern Arena is our first eSports initiative in Canada," said Co-Founder/CEO & Executive producer of Canadian League of Gamers Carl-Edwin Michel. "We're really happy to have been in Fan Expo because there's bee a lot of video game content an we're taking it to the next level with eSports competitions. It's great to see the fans and have them here watching the action as it unfolds."

Co-Founder/CEO & Executive producer of Canadian League of Gamers Carl-Edwin Michel:"It's great to see the fans and have them here watching the action as it unfolds."

Michel explained that while Twitch is a great platform for watching eSports online, Northern Arena's Fan Expo stage was ideal for allowing fans to see eSports players battle live.

Teams competed in Counter Strike:GO, Hearthstone and Clash Royale. Teams and and came players from Canada, Mongolia, Brazil and other. The global tournament was played in Toronto, while millions of viewers from  around watched live via Twitch.

eSports is exploding in popularity and becoming a  billion dollar industry with ranking players enjoying the popularity and earning potential of professional athletes and with companies vying for sponsorship opportunities to capture the market of engaged viewers.

Interview with Canadian eSports players

CR: How long have you been playing eSports or video games professionally?

Ace Gaming: Maxime “Max” LaPierre and Mickael “Knave” Denis have played professionally for close to 2.5 years, andSimon “Monne” Desrosiers has played professional for about a year. They all have 8+ years’ experience before going pro. 

CR: How many hours a day goes into training/ practice?

Maxime: Usually play 4 hours a day

Simon: We usually don’t play on weekends so we try Sunday-Thursday between 20-25 hours

Mikael: We all have other jobs or go to school so we try to play after around 7:30-11:30pm 

CR: Which games did you compete in at Fan Expo?

 Ace Gaming:CS:GO

CR: How has eSports grown in Canada? Are there many opportunities for professional gamers coming up?

•    Mikael: Definitely more opportunities coming
•    Maxime: Canada is in the “stone age” compared to Europe
•    Simon: eSports blew up in Europe ESEA LAN is currently the most prestigious global tournament North   American is growing

•    This is the biggest one we’ve done so far in Canada [Simon and Mikael]
•    Maxime – I played in ESWC last year 

CR: What are the biggest challenges in competing at this level?

       Mikael: to keep up with professionals who don’t also have jobs and schools
       Simon: Some people play 8 hours a day, but we also have school and work so 3-4 is our maximum

CR:  What excites you most about the future of eSports and competition like this?

        Simon: We’re really lucky to be the second continent to have tournaments like this (after Europe)

CR: What would be your advice for gamers looking into going pro?

       All: Dedication, hard work, sacrifice (homework, social life), need to put your ego aside and learn from those with ore experience