Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – Morocco’s Warriors in Mask (WASK) team will represent Morocco in the Esport’s Free Fire World Series (FFWS) 2022 which will begin on May 14 and conclude on May 21 in Sentosa, Singapore.
This international tournament will see 22 teams from 13 regions around the world, which will be competing for the title of “Free Fire world champions,” and win the $2 million (MAD 20 million) in prize money.
WASK, formerly known as MCES Africa, is one of Morocco’s many e-sports competitive teams. With back-to-back wins in the Free Fire Arab League cups, WASK is Morocco’s best Free Fire professional team.
WASK’s latest achievement saw the team win the tier 2 of the Free Fire Arab League Season 5 in April 2022, bringing home a cash prize of $17,600 (MAD 176,450). This win allowed them to qualify for the FFWS 2022 Sentona world championship.
Read also: E-sports: Casablanca’s Morocco Mall Hosts Free Fire-BTS Event
WASK was founded in 2020 under the label MCES Africa, as a part of the International MCES e-sports professional team, based in France. MCES Africa changed its name to WASK in May 2022.
WASK’s founder and CEO, Tarik Belghazi spoke to Morocco World News, about the challenges that his team faced along the way. Belghazi said that the path to the world series was like “climbing a rough mountain without any safety tools.”
Due to the fact that E-sports was a new industry in Morocco, many people did not understand it. Thus, the team struggled with lack of financing and community support.
The most difficult step for WASK was to instill a professional team spirit in which duties and discipline took precedence over personal interests, which Belghazi has succeeded in doing and raising a roster of professional Moroccan players.
WASK’s CEO was happy to represent, on an international scale, the Moroccans that gave the team their love and support. He was pleased to learn that WASK’s technical and tactical skills were recognized to the point of competing on an international level at the Free Fire events. Belghazi prefers to adhere to the Moroccan spirit, which is to “work hard in silence, and to leave our [team’s] success to speak for us.”
What is Free Fire?
Free Fire, released in August 2017 by Garena, is a free-to-play battle royale game, which is similar to PUBG, albeit with fewer players. In Free Fire, 50 survivors are sent to an island to look for weapons and supplies while eliminating and competing with each other to be the last player standing.
The Esports Awards 2021 named Free Fire the “Esports Mobile Game of the Year” in November last year, making it the game’s second year in a row to receive the honor. The award comes on the heels of a record-breaking viewership of their Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore (FFWS 2021 SG).
The FFWS 2021 was held from May 28 to 30, with more than 5.4 million viewers watching the finals of the tournament. According to Esports Charts, the views of this event alone broke every record of any e-sports event in history, excluding Chinese platforms.
The FFWS 2022 Sentona highlights Garena’s continued efforts in promoting and expanding the global professional e-sports community.
Esports in Morocco
The esports sector struggles with a major lack of opportunities and under-representation in the media. However, Morocco’s Ministry of Youth is making progress to highlight this newly emerging industry.
The Moroccan Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication signed a partnership with the Royal Moroccan Federation of Electronic Games on March 2, 2022. The agreement aims to strengthen the role of youth in the ever-growing e-gaming industry, and intends to establish an “E-Botola” competition before the year 2026.
Read also: E-Gaming in Morocco: Youth Eager to Challenge Career Status Quo
The best way to promote esports in Morocco, according to Belghazi, is to “listen to what the majority of Moroccans want.” With over 1 million Free Fire players in Morocco, the esports industry among mobile players is ever expanding. Belghazi recommends that these players should be trusted and given an opportunity to shine, so they can develop esports in Morocco.
According to Investopedia, e-sports (Electronic Sports) elevate online gaming to the level of a spectator sport. It is similar to watching a professional sporting event, except that instead of a physical event, spectators watch video gamers compete against one another. In recent years, the e-sports trend has spread to the point where games can now be seen at an organized arena event.
