A note from the editor
I don’t know how to write this article.
It’s gone midnight as I sit down to try and produce something before bed. I’ve been unable to work pretty much most of the day today, stunned by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. I am scared and upset and angry.
Call me a bad journalist, call me weak, but sitting down to write something that is beyond games, about actual life and death, is not something I am used to. I entered into games journalism partly to escape from the cruelties of life, but some things must be covered, and this is one of them.
It was an email I received from someone in Ukraine, directly affected by this, that managed to pull me out of my daze.
“I’d like to thank you for support – it’s really appreciated. It’s really important for us to have this story being covered.”
Thank you, you know who you are, and I’ll do my best to summarise the esports community’s reaction to the horrifying situation below. I cannot imagine what Ukrainians are going through at this time, and I stand with you all.
Ukraine-based esports tournament organiser WePlay has published a statement on the situation.
“Russian Federation attacked Ukraine. Even though it’s frightening, the people of WePlay Holding and all of Ukraine know how to maintain common sense and stay calm,” said Oleh Humeniuk, CEO at WePlay Holding.
“Work in the WePlay Holding Ukrainian office is in full swing – the office in Ukraine will continue to work remotely. At present, all the company departments, from legal and finance to studio and esports, as well as infrastructure institutions, are doing their best to keep in touch and provide partners with the information necessary to solve any issue. All WePlay Holding employees are aware of the government instructions they need to follow and continue working from home. The company keeps everyone posted on current updates affecting the workflow.
“The US office is also open as usual. The company is performing all the payments, legal and other activities in time. Thank you for your words of support and sensitivity that all Ukrainians need now.
“Together we are strong and unbreakable.”
Esports team organisation Natus Vincere (Navi), who are based in Kyiv, Ukraine, published an open and heartfelt statement on Twitter earlier.
“It’s impossible that during this war we pretend that everything is okay. It is not. We are devastated,” Navi said. “We are all together in this. And together we’ll get through it.
“You can’t imagine how important your support is. Especially all the Russian people on the street protesting against this devastating war.”
https://t.co/iNiwMXrC81 pic.twitter.com/JaOa6JQxEA
Ukrainian former StarCraft II pro player Aleksey ‘White-Ra’ Krupnyk said: “Putin is a mad dictator, it’s a shame what he’s doing. But our country, our people, are together. Big thanks for international support and please pray for Ukraine.”
pic.twitter.com/kuWHQH8MWQ
UK caster James Banks has been very active on Twitter around this situation – go check out his profile as he’s shared a lot of valuable links to charities you can donate to, to help with this crisis.
James Banks – whose home is in Ukraine – left the country recently, as did other WePlay casters and other esports professionals.
He’s been trying to send support to his fiancee’s family, to try to find a car and driver for a family member who needs to try get to Poland and escape.
It is breaking my heart to hear this and other messages from family and friends in Ukraine. They buy supplies. They hold hope but I feel so fucking helpless.
Anna Pototska, Northern Europe Valorant influencer manager at Riot Games, posted a tweet sharing her emotions and urging people to get educated on the war.
When I think that my family (including 12y.o siblings) woke up to this sound today I want to cry.
Meanwhile Russian president keeps feeding the news that this operation is done in order to "free the oppressed".
Do your research, get educated on what this war is really about ? https://t.co/EBwCzL6wsQ
Here’s a selection of tweets from CSGO pro player S1mple, G2 Arctic League of Legends support player (formerly of UK esports org MNM Gaming) and more.
My city is shelled r fck n
This is not Verdansk, this is real life
Don’t let others fool you https://t.co/NsBxJ3SdbJ
As a kid I couldn’t even tell that much of a difference between our countries, we are supposed to be like brothers and sisters, almost everyone even speaks russian in Ukraine, and yet we’re killing each other, I guess humanity didn’t do that big of a progress than I thought, sad.
Thanks to everyone who worries about me and my country, i appreciate and respect every single one of you. Literally can hear explosion outside.
?? ????? ?? ?????????? ??? ??? ????????. ?? ???????? ? ???????? ??????. ???????? ???? ? ????? ???????. ?
i hope everything will be okay for you man
Today most of Ukrainians including me woke up because of explosions and I do not want anyone to experience this ever.
But im extremely proud of our army, our goverment and our people. We managed to stay calm and fight back.
Have no idea how it will end but we should stay united.
France-based Prodigy Agency founder and CEO Jérôme Coupez offered a place for Ukrainian players to play.
If any player/ or anyone needs a place to stay or to play from because you can't go back to Ukraine, do not hesitate to send me a message.
I will do my very best for us to welcome you and provide everything needed in our facilities or with our partners.
Stay safe everyone ?
Astralis’ Russian League of Legends player Zanzarah also shared some hate speech he received, and was met with support from the esports community.
Ok… pic.twitter.com/kpIXfce4Qh
I have received a lot of support messages and I am very grateful to all of you. I and the majority of Russians are against the war. #WeStandForPeace #Ukraine
If you want more content here, British esports journalist and personality Richard Lewis broadcast a few livestreams on Twitch running through Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, analysing media coverage and sharing his thoughts in greater detail.
“This will be strange new uncharted territory for a lot of younger folk, so I wanted to throw the stream live, give some background and make it educational,” Richard Lewis said. “The landscape for information about what’s going on is going to be ridiculous. And Biden needed a crisis to distract from terrible domestic policy and how things have been going in America.
“And Russia is really sophisticated when it comes to the distribution of disinformation, so you’ve got to be very mindful of that. If any streamer cites Russia Times as a source, don’t listen to it, it’s propaganda. And on the other side, there’s obviously a lot of anti-Putin sentiment, you’re going to see a lot of things happen.”
You can check out Richard’s streams here and here.
We’ll update this article with more reaction going forwards, and once again send our support to all of those affected.
Dom is an award-winning writer who graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV as well as Riot Games and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Association up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and as an esports consultant helping brands and businesses better understand the industry.
You can follow Esports News UK on Twitter, Facebook, Discord and YouTube, and get the latest updates from the Esports News UK RSS feed.
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