The inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC) is aiming to bring a true World Cup-style format to competitive gaming this November, complete with 96 national qualifiers and massive global ambition. But while the concept of national pride sounds great on paper, the organizations footing the bill for top-tier talent are facing a much harsher reality.
Team Vitality CEO Fabien “Neo” Devide recently weighed in on the massive undertaking, shedding light on why lending out star players to a national roster isn’t as simple as it is in traditional sports.
I think we need to have something that is more balanced than what is existing in traditional sports because our industry struggles a lot in terms of economics,” Devide explained when asked about the possibility of Vitality players competing for their respective nations. “As you mentioned, we pay wages, we pay salaries, so at some point, we also need to have some type of profit.
A packed calendar and business priorities
While Devide noted his own national pride and love for the Olympic spirit, the sheer density of the Counter-Strike 2 tournament circuit leaves little room for extracurricular events. The inaugural ENC event in Riyadh directly clashes with BLAST Rivals this November and is scheduled to end 10 days before the start of the PGL Singapore Major.
My main concern right now is that the calendar is really, really full, really stacked. There are a lot of things that can also impact our revenue, so I think right now it doesn’t allow us to probably send our players to those kinds of competitions,” Devide stated.
The players themselves, according to Devide, are also laser-focused on their primary goals within the tier-one club ecosystem, particularly with the CS2 Winter Major looming large in late November.
This competition, at the Counter-Strike level, is not relevant yet,” Devide said bluntly. “It will be over the years, but in different games, we try to be facilitators to contribute as much as we can. For Counter-Strike, it’s a bit special because it’s during really key tournaments.
You can see Neo’s answer to our question about Vitality’s participation in the ENC in the video below.
The ENC perspective: Incentives and exceptions
ENC Director of Product Brian Krämer is well aware of the friction the inaugural tournament is causing for tier-one organizations. To help bridge the gap, the ENC has introduced a club partner program across both the Esports World Cup and the ENC to offer financial incentives, but Krämer acknowledges the scheduling conflict is a massive hurdle.
At the end of the day though, it’s really up to the players to decide if they want to attend ENC or not,” Krämer said. “For this year specifically, we have created exceptions for clubs if they are attending BLAST or if they want to prioritize the Major. That’s totally fair, right? We want to leave that up to the clubs and the players to decide.
Despite the compromises required to get the event off the ground this year, Krämer’s ultimate goal for the tournament remains unchanged.
The long-term ambition is to have the best players representing their country and territory,” Krämer noted.
Further complicating the decision for teams is the fact that the ENC will not award Valve Regional Standings (VRS) points this year.
We have been in conversations with Valve as well,” Krämer explained. “As with many things, I think they first want to see how things actually work out, and then once they have the data, they actually make the decisions for the future. So for this year, it wasn’t possible to adjust the system.
Club survival over national pride
For heavyweights like Team Vitality, the choice is clear: without VRS points on the line and with massive tier-one events happening simultaneously, the core business must come first.
Ultimately, we have to prioritize the club and Vitality as a whole over the national team,” Devide concluded. “Which is a bit of a shame, but that’s also the reality of our business, where we need to have clubs that are still alive and still ready to spend the money when it matters.
The ENC will this year run from November 2nd to November 29th, with the CS2 tournament scheduled to run from November 11th to November 15th. The PGL Singapore Major will run from the 25th of November to the 13th of December.
