Generally speaking, I’m not much of an esports person. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy seeing players pull off wild feats in video games, and you can often find me watching record-winning speedrun compilations on YouTube. I love playing video games, and love watching others play them, too. But for as long as I can remember, the idea of buying overpriced team merch and expensive tickets just to spend hours watching people use computers intensely was a concept I found baffling. But after spending a week in Sapporo, Japan for the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) Year 5 Championship, I can safely say I get it now.
When I first arrived at the Sapporo Dome, the 30,000-seat stadium had been split in half. On one side was the ALGS Fan Zone, where attendees could buy Apex Legends merch, team gear, and food. The other half of the stadium housed the main stage, where competitors played matches in front of a live audience. There weren’t too many people in the stands on day one of the three-day event, but there were plenty of folks in the Fan Zone shelling out for team merch, and a group of Fnatic fans (a UK-based team) had already set up shop in the front row, waving LED lightsticks in the shape of their team’s logo, with massive banners draped over the edge of the stands.
My main reason for attending ALGS was to catch up with one of Apex’s most famous esports athletes, Philip
The ALGS Championship made me fall in love with esports
