Goliath Gaming’s Julio Bianchi, is one of South Africa’s leading professionals in the world of FIFA. The 22-year-old, who competes on PlayStation and has won numerous domestic titles, explains how up-and-comers can become professional gamers in South Africa saying, “I think the most important thing is to start competing online, you know, start playing FIFA Ultimate Team and competing in the weekend league that is played for rankings in South Africa and globally as well. That is obviously also the quickest way other players will recognize you because we know each other already, we face each other almost every weekend, so if someone new pops up we obviously want to know who they are and where they come from.”
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Bianchi says that during Coronavirus lockdown there has been a spike in online gaming and that even some professional PSL players are starting to take to playing in local tournaments, “I think now that people don’t have football to watch and many turn to eSports instead and that just highlights how important it can be and how enjoyable it can be. A good example is the artist Cassper Nyovest – he is hosting a sort of stay at home challenge where he has been facing all types of celebrities such as Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune and Trevor Noah, and many other guys. I’ve seen many of my own friends who are professional footballers turn to it as well – posting pictures and videos of themselves playing and playing online leagues amongst each other – and clubs like Ajax Cape Town hosting fundraisers for the Coronavirus.”
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Note: Due to Coronavirus, Soccer Laduma newspaper will not be on the shelves this week. As a service to our readers the Soccer Laduma Radio team are reading a selection of features from this week’s newspaper. Click on the podcast below to listen to Soccer Laduma read the full SA online gaming article and interview to you from which this excerpt was taken.