The solid oak parquet creaks. The hostess is worried about whether the electrical network will hold. Through the huge windows, the December sun overexposes an abandoned cartel, witness to the tapestry cardboard hung not long ago on these cream walls. ” Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid’s envoys offering a clock to Charlemagne », by Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678).
We are, this December 10, in the living room of one of jewels of Arras heritage. And if the gift from the caliph of the Thousand and One Nights has disappeared, gone for restoration, other clocks disturb the calm of the Saint-Vaast media library at high frequency. The association Greater Arras initiative organizes in this former abbey “Passion Digitale”, a day of e-sport tournaments, concerts and round tables designed to transform the practice of video games into a professional project. One of the many events that punctuate the days of gamers in the Sleeping Beauty of Pas-de-Calais. Here, institutions have long relied on video games to communicate with their youngest constituents.
Innovative territory
Already in the early 2010s, Arras hosted an e-sport tournament, recalls Nathalie Gheerbrant, then Deputy Mayor for Education. “E-sport is a playful practice of network video games particularly appreciated by young people in which few local authorities are interested today”, wrote the city in its application file for the national Innovative Territory competition in 2021. Competition which it won thanks to its use of e-sport as a tool for inclusion and education in priority neighborhoods.
“One of the objectives was to identify young people who had dropped out, spent hours practicing and, therefore, had developed skills. We could help them take advantage of all that,” adds Nathalie Gheerbrant, now vice-president of the Urban Community in charge of economic development. And too bad if for many at the time, the game was perceived more as a waste of time or a danger: “We realized this fear of screens among some, the anxiety about games, but also the issues around junk food, a sedentary lifestyle and isolation for those who practice the most. We had to take this path and look into these subjects, ”adds the deputy mayor in charge of the digital transition, Evelyne Beaumont.
A video game center in each media library
“Gaming allows us to talk about all these subjects with a young audience who does not come to our other events, does not read our magazines, does not consult our networks”, predicted the day before the event Pierre Ferrari, digital director of the Urban Community.
The facts prove him right… This Saturday morning, the young people gather behind the luminous towers of the computers. More numerous to support their friends in the final of the FIFA or Rocket League tournament than at the round tables, of course, but very comfortable in the imposing setting of the abbey. “We have young people here who would not have crossed the doors of the media library because they thought they would have nothing to find there,” said Olivia Minne-Segui, deputy director of the cultural center.
They will no doubt come back to it, because in Arras, each media library has its own video centre. The previous week, the Verlaine pole hosted an e-sports tournament. For World Video Game Day, the Ronville toy library will organize its festival. Each center has its own speciality: retrogaming, console games, network games, etc.
United by the same shirt
It is precisely through the network game that Valentin Tiquet began. At Passion Digitale, he is one of the many participants to wear the magnificent black and gold jersey of the local e-sports club. But he is the only one to have the word President flocked on the back. The young Arrageois created his Obsession Gaming association in 2017 in the hope of one day setting up an event. Contacted by the town hall, he quickly won a grant, added to the name of his association that of his city, and to the breastplate of his jersey the belfry symbol of the region. Obsession Arras Gaming was born. Two months later, the association, which had become the spearhead of local video game policy, organized a first FIFA tournament in Pharos, the cultural center of the agglomeration. Followed by many more…
“We also organize awareness-raising, discovery workshops, etc. Our goal is for young people to meet and share their passion, explains Valentin “Disco” Tiquet. When I see them coming in, discovering the room with amazed eyes and starting to train… Honestly, I love it. »
30 tournaments at 17
The major tournament of the day is taking place on FIFA. Not necessarily because the same evening France challenges England in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Rather because this game is one of the most played by the target audience. “Not everyone has a PC Gamer capable of running big games in good conditions,” comments Stéphane Efoua, deputy director of Réseau Initiative Grand Arras. Playstation 4 and Xbox are much more accessible, and the game FIFA extremely popular with young people in the Arras neighborhoods. They are the ones we are targeting as a priority today…”
Sylvain Regnier comes from a little further – Lens, 20 km away – but he knows the problems of gamers well. The association he chairs, Holiday Geek Club, organizes the Passion Digitale Rocket League tournament. He also set up a Mario Kart Live stand, small plastic racing cars that gobble up the floor to make the joists tremble. His thirtieth tournament organized. Not bad, at 17. He founded his junior association three years ago and does not intend to stop there, currently working on the organization of a national Fortnite tournament. And thinks about the international… “Eventually, I would like to transform the association into a company”, he confesses. In Arras the Sleeping Beauty, video games have awakened many desires…