A new eSports competition of a new kind was born at the start of 2023: the EVA League 1, a virtual reality video game competition.
The championship, for its first edition, brings together six teams of four players who compete every other Tuesday and will decide in a final phase next July.
When we look at the game, it looks like a classic video game, from the fans’ point of view, but the big difference, and this is what makes all the subtlety of virtual reality, is that the players have a headset on their head, with connected devices that track their movements.
According to EVA League 1 player, Pascal “Paascool” Sagna, EVA league 1 player when a fan plays the game, or when watch it for real from the outside, you see players who are active, who make real moves on a real pitch.
“From the outside, you can only see the teams moving around in an arena that is completely empty. But in the helmet, we have different settings: aquatic, desert, spatial, jungle, in which we move.” Sagna said.
“But the distances are very real. If we stretch out our arm, we really touch the person in front of us, whereas we are also in a virtual world.” Sagna added.
Players make real moves in a setting that doesn’t exist in real life. It’s a bit like two rooms, two atmospheres.
When you’re close to the field in real life, but in the game and you watch the players, it gives rise to movements that are quite funny, quite interesting.
“It requires physical skills like good cardio. You have to be very flexible, because there are game actions that require you to go up or down very quickly.” Sagna said.
The EVA League 1, matches every other Tuesday evening and broadcast live on Twitch.
