Current realities of esports development in Georgia

The current development of esports in Georgia is in a deep stagnation stage - there is a corresponding federation in the country, but there are no well-known representatives on the world stage in at least one computer discipline so far. It would seem that the ardent character of the citizens of Western Transcaucasia should regularly supply new talents to the professional scene, but everything happens exactly the opposite.

The irrepressible Greeks from Ad Finem are still fresh in their minds. Ukraine and Russia are represented by world-renowned ensembles. Belarusian stacks are actively trying to break through to the TIR-2 level in Dota2, and Kazakhstan is consistently shooting at CS: GO. What happened in Georgia during this time?

International performances

In 2015 and 2016, the Georgian national team twice tried to qualify for the major international TWC CS: GO tournament with a solid prize pool of $ 100,000. In two years, the team managed to play only three matches with different squads, winning only one of them, which was not enough to enter the main part of the event.

In 2014, the Georgia team took part in the IeSF 2014 World Championship in Dota2, which was held under the patronage of the International Esports Federation. The event was attended by 14 teams at once - including the stellar Newbee along with MVP Phoenix. The Georgian guys managed to take the second place in the group, and in the playoffs they had to be content with only one victory in three matches and an early departure from the competition.

Notable personalities

Irakli W1sh-Peranidze is the 22-year-old mid-leader of the Swedish Dota 2 team GODSENT. During his career, he managed to earn more than $ 5,000 in prize money and played in such famous European stacks as WaR and Aachen. The player has experience of playing against the strongest teams in the world during the qualifying qualifiers for the Majors, where he is remembered for a rather aggressive style of execution. Irakli also has a trip to Hamburg for a serious tournament of the ESL series.

Georgy xosh Khoshtaria is the most experienced professional player in the CS: GO discipline. He made his debut at his first competitions back in 2008, and since then has managed to become one of the best Counter-Strike players in Georgia. Georgy represented his national team at the 2015 World Championships, as well as at the events of the IeSF series.

Reziko LC Nachkebia has been playing CS: GO on a professional level for 4 years. The cybersportsman regularly tries his hand at international tournaments. At the moment, the best achievement is considered a trip to the IeSF World Championship, held in 2017, where Nachkebia faced the best players in the discipline.

Nugzar forward Gatenashvili is another representative of the Georgian Counter-Strike. He is best known for his performances for WMGC and eSportsLab Black, in which he participated in international events. In 2017, he represented the country at the 2017 IeSF World Championship in Korea after winning the domestic qualifier.

Development of e-sports, main directions

An e-sports festival is held annually in Georgia with the support of the National Federation of Computer Sports and regional youth centers. The main disciplines are Dota2, Tekken 7, CS: GO, PUBG, FIFA and others. The winners of the festival in their directions get a chance to represent Georgia at the next world championship - last year it was Dota2 and Tekken 7. As an additional prize, as a rule, a ticket to one of the open eSports European championships is raffled off.

At the moment, Georgian e-sports is sagging at the level of the same CIS teams. The country cannot even boast of "middle peasant" organizations, occasionally shooting only individual players in 1-2 disciplines. In the absence of large in-house esports organizations, most talented players find it difficult to reach their original potential when faced with an ogre.