UK government is getting its own official esports department
6 April 2023
For some time now, the UK government has been receiving criticism for not paying enough attention to esports in the UK and their potential, in particular. There has not been a lot of effort to support the industry in the region and elected officials generally do not have a lot of interest in esports in the UK or elsewhere. This situation might soon be a thing of the past though, because the government has recently announced extensive plans to set up an official esports division within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and that’s not all. The Conservative-led government has also revealed that it will be creating its own esports team.
Increased focus on esports in the UK
The announcement by the UK government looks to be the latest in a string of mentions and involvements of officials in esports and esports-related news. Just a few weeks ago, Labour MP Alex Sobel was invited as speaker on a panel on challenger and opportunities for esports, for example, while earlier this year, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan appeared in a video by Riot Games to welcome the upcoming League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) to his city.
“We want to bring the biggest and best tournaments to London, and MSI is a brilliant way to showcase our ambition to become a centre for esports”, Sadiq said back in January, “We’re delighted to host the League of Legends MSI here in London for the first time ever”.
While many details still need to be revealed, it’s clear that the UK government is now planning to launch its very own esports division, both to foster the growth of the industry in the United Kingdom and to participate in various competitions. No information in regard to the titles in which the team would be competing has been released yet, but rumour has it that the brand-new government team will be active in League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. We expect to get more details about this over the coming weeks.
UK government esports team
By announcing the creation of its own esports organisation, the UK government is finally showing signs of interest in esports in the UK and in general. The fact that the idea of setting up a dedicated esports division within government is supported by the likes of Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lucy Frazer, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak indicates that the government is ready to take the industry seriously.
Whether the government’s own esports team will actually contain active elected officials remains to be seen. Besides that, they will also need to decide if the team may only include homegrown players, i.e. players with a passport from the UK, or if foreign players can be recruited to represent the UK government as well. So far, nothing has been revealed in this regard.