On February 21, 2024, the opening of the first ever-International tournament «Games of the Future» took place in Russia (Kazan). More than 2,000 people from 107 countries take part in the competition, including the USA, Italy, Spain, Great Britain and many other Western countries. Tickets for the competition are sold out in a matter of minutes. The tournament is covered by more than 600 Russian and foreign media.
Led by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the opening ceremony was attended by the Presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Republika Srpska.
The Games of the Future is a large-scale sports event at the intersection of sports, science and technology, the synergy of classical and digital sports. International competitions are held in 21 disciplines. Each of them combines classic sports, cybersports or virtual reality technologies. The disciplines are divided into 5 categories or «challenges»:
«Sport» is a combination of classic sports (football, hockey, auto racing, etc.) with their digital equivalent – video games, simulators.
«Tactics» is a combination of popular video games of the genre “three-dimensional tactical combat” with a physical stage – the laser tag arena.
«Strategy» – competitions are held in computer games of the genres “battle arena” and “strategy”, and then in a series of tests of endurance and ingenuity.
«Technologies» – participants compete with the help of technically sophisticated devices and technological developments in drone races, robot battles and virtual reality competitions.
«Speed» – participants take part in computer speed games in the format of a relay race, and then in a series of tests of endurance and ingenuity.
Russia has spent more than $50 million on hosting the games, the total prize fund of that value is $10 million. This is a serious amount, especially during the conflict in Ukraine and the economic sanctions imposed on it.
The competition is not over yet, but eight countries have already expressed a desire to host the next «Games of the Future». The opening ceremony has already been watched by more than a billion people. Even American and European sports channels broadcast it. Why is that? It’s very simple – «sport is out of politics».
