Many people have heard about Farming Simulator at least once. And quite often there are jokes about it being a game you play after a long day at work. The core idea is straightforward. A player becomes a farmer who owns land, a barn, and a fleet of tractors with plows, seeders, wheelbarrows, and other farm tools. Using these, the land is cleared, crops are planted, and when harvest time comes, the grown produce is sold to expand the operation by purchasing more land and repeating the cycle.
For more than a decade, the series has released new installments, selling millions of copies each year. At one point, Farming Simulator drew such a large fan base that developers launched a game-based esports league in 2018.
Curiously, in Farming Simulator contests, competitors do not race in traditional sprint formats. The competition is more serious and strategic. Matches pit two teams of three players each against one another. Each member has a specific role: one operates the tractor to gather hay and bale it, another handles loading and transporting, and the third manages unloading. Two fields of hay are on the playing surface, and teams race to complete their tasks the fastest. The quicker squad wins.
In 2022, the Farming Simulator World Championship took place in Erlangen, Germany. Eight teams battled for a prize pool of €100,000, with two German teams, Trelleborg and Valtra, reaching the finals. The winning team consisted of three under-18 players who collected €40,000 each.
dance ’til you drop
Just Dance is a music rhythm series where players mirror the dance moves of virtual performers to popular tracks. Movement accuracy is tracked using a handheld device or console peripherals such as the Kinect or PlayStation Move.
The Just Dance World Cup has been an official esports event since 2014. Each year, Ubisoft selects the top performers from 18 regions and invites them to an offline championship. The finals are typically held in France or Brazil, featuring pairs of players who compete in head-to-head rounds. Scores come from the game itself and from assessment by a panel of developers, professional dancers, and celebrities. The aim is to outperform the opponent in two of the three rounds.
Although the competition carries official status, the Just Dance World Cup finalists do not chase cash prizes. The winner earns a five-day trip to Paris, a meeting with the game developers, and a chance to record a dance that will appear in a future episode of Just Dance.
From 2014 to 2019, the Just Dance World Cup occurred five times, with a break during the coronavirus pandemic. Brazilian dancer Diego San claimed wins in 2014, 2015, and 2017, while Turkish dancer Umutkan Tytyunci won in 2018 and 2019. Participants from Russia reached the super final on two occasions.
laid bricks
Soviet programmer Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris, a game that needs little introduction. Since 2010, it has hosted the World Championship known as the Classic Tetris World Championship. The name Classic is no accident. Competitors play the original Tetris from 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, using the original NES console, cartridge, and even old CRT screens. Deviations from these rules lead to disqualification.
The tournament is single-player, but it also features a two-player mode. The goal is simple: avoid losing to the opponent as the blocks descend at increasing speeds after players accumulate points. The challenge lies in sustaining momentum as the pace escalates again and again.
Competitive Tetris continues to evolve, with players devising new tactics to maximize endurance. A recent trend is the rolling control technique, where players tap a lower finger position against the directional pad to speed up piece movement rather than clicking repeatedly. In 2022, American player Eric Tolt, then 18, won the Classic Tetris World Championship and claimed $10,000.
good old strife
Tetris is not the only classic with a professional scene in recent years. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, a fighting game popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, remains influential in competitive gaming. The Mortal Kombat series has continued to evolve, but Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 still attracts dedicated players. An annual Ultimate Cup has gathered players from many countries since 2013, and the 2022 edition marked the 11th World Cup in its history.
The competition format is straightforward: players compete one-on-one in a bracket, choosing fighters and fighting until one side reaches four victories. Some fighters are restricted due to their strength, such as the Night Wolf from India and the mercenary Cabal. Prize funds at the Ultimate Cup are modest, often not exceeding 50 thousand rubles, though organizers share a portion of donor revenues with the winners.
Russian and CIS players have traditionally dominated this scene. Names like Snowboy from Belarus, Isum and Ali from Azerbaijan, Mafioso and Zohan from Russia have ranked among the top competitors as of this writing.