Round One: the third edition of the event dedicated to the world of export

Round One

Round One, an international business event dedicated to eSports in Italy organized by IIDEA and Ninetynine, took place on Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 October at the Officine Grandi Riparazioni in Turin. The third edition dealt with different themes, all related to the export sector, giving voice to different players that make it up. Publishers, event organizers, journalists and players, all gathered to celebrate the e-sports segment in the video game industry.

From the second edition of the report "Landscape of the eSport sector in Italy", commissioned by IIDEA to Nielsen and presented in the frame of Round One, the economic impact of eSports has grown in Italy by 4%. "Esports are a segment of the video game sector that is increasingly developed in our country, not only in terms of use by the public, but also in terms of the maturation and professionalization of the local ecosystem" says Marco Saletta, President of IIDEA. For more information, please visit the full report that you can find at this link.

An export future

Round One was held in Turin on 25 and 26 October 2022. panel in the days of Round One one of the most anticipated was the closing one on Tuesday, "From the origins of eSports to the first unicorn", where Alessandro Avallone, aka "stermy", recounted the key moments of his career, from 'start as an eSport player up to the position of Chief Growth Officer in FACEIT, a platform dedicated to competitive gaming co-founded by Avallone himself. In his speech, stermy highlighted how, according to him, it is essential that the operators of the sector undertake to tell the story of eSport by separating the competitive side from that of pure entertainment and, above all, to demonstrate to commercial realities that the gaming sector is worthy of long-term investments.

During the days of Round One, we had the opportunity to deepen some aspects addressed on the stage of the event with Thalita Malagò, IIDEA's General Manager, starting from Avallone's statements. "Round One for us is the first point of contact to tell the world of eSports, even to commercial realities that want to get closer to the world of gaming and eSports. It is natural that brands and companies that are not internal to the sector commit to small investments, to probe a new market. Equally true, however, is that it is up to us operators in the sector to make it clear that this is not a hit and run market, but rather, to demonstrate that the world of video games is expanding and that it will offer more and more opportunities. "

Round One opening panel Speaking of opportunities, an important thematic segment was aimed at training new eSport talents, but not only. "In our country, there is a good offer of specialized training in the development of video games, more embryonic than that of export figures. There are several courses and masters, but most professionals are trained in the field. Inevitably this too will grow, but it is important that training goes hand in hand with what is the demand of the industry. In the near future we are required to make an extra effort in terms of dialogue with schools and universities, to create study courses that are focused on the sector " .

A training that is not only the prerogative of developers and industry professionals, but also of talent and content creators. Malagò, in fact, talks to us about the agenda of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, which has identified the goal of the coming years to create a training circuit suitable for the profession of content creator: "Streamers and influencers are, in fact, a new communication channel and should not be ignored. However, it is important that there is also a line of professionalism in approaching what is in effect a job, especially taking into account the weight it can take on the public.

The awards

Marco Ragusa (aka Vengeur) won the award as Best Italian Player Not only talks and panels but also an awards ceremony for the Italian Esports Awards. The evening was hosted by Bryan Ronzani - speaker radio and founder of The Box, and Virginia Gambatesa, aka Kafkanya, content creator and twitcher. emi to the winners, chosen in turn by the jury of the Italian eSports Awards, composed of Alessandro "Stermy" Avallone, Cecilia "Aithusa" Ciocchetti, Dimitri "Noodlez" Zografos, Francesco "Deugemo" Lombardo, Riccardo "Tropic" Lichene, Selene "Nancydrew "Mauretto and Simone" AKirA "Trimarchi. The jury selected the winners of each of the competing categories, with the exception of the People's Choice: Esports Game of the Year which was chosen by the public. In detail:

Best Italian Competitive Team - Macko Esports Best Italian Organization - Reply Totem Best Italian Player - Marco "Vengeur" ​​Ragusa Best Italian Caster - Roberto "Kenrhen" Prampolini Best Gaming Audio Campaign - Sony Interactive Entertainment Italy ( PlayStation) with his Gran Turismo Project 7 Best Italian Event - PG Nationals of Rainbow Six Siege Best Italian Commercial Activation - Gucci x FACEIT with the FACEIT Gaming Academy Italian Content Creator - Riccardo "Piz" Pizzinelli Esports Game of the Year - Counter Strike: Global Offensive. People's Choice: Esports Game of the Year - Valorant

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