This report came in briefly after the Italian esports industry was stunned on April 29, 2022, following the local customs and Monopolies Agency (Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli) seizing all available devices and shutting down a number of esports and gaming arenas around the country. Gaming PCs, driving stimulators peripherals, and even consoles, were seized and considered non-standard equipment as a result.

The Agency stated publicly that the involved enterprises did not comply with Italian requirements, which led to the seizures. However, in Italy, LAN video gaming devices are categorized as iGaming devices, which include, arcade machines, gambling, and slot machines.

Only three places were closed on the 29th, according to the Customs Agency. However, this sparked significant concern also because the Agency can levy fines ranging from €5000 to €50,000 on every seized item. As a result, numerous businesses have stopped operating their gaming activities in order to avoid being penalized. Esports bars might continue to provide catering operations, but customers would be unable to play video games for the time being.

The Agency’s decision was apparently prompted by casino owners who wondered why LAN rooms and esports bars, which provide gaming gear as a service, were not held to the same standards (duly registered and tax payable) as they are.

The Italian Chamber of Deputies members Daniele Belotti, and Luca Carabetta as well as Senator Simona Pergreffi, were geared towards regulating the space by the esports industry on May 3, 2022. This led to them fostering discussions in the Italian legislature for particular regulations of the industry.

As a result, it seems that the country will adopt particular esports regulations, having consulted esports entrepreneur Alessio Cicolari.

Freni had stated in the Chambers of Deputies on May 4, 2022, that the government holds the power to consider and effect the best possible regulations. This he says will guarantee stability and birth the regulations at the earliest possible time.

“The government reserves the possibility to take into consideration the most appropriate regulations, for the purposes to guarantee a stable and efficient regulation as soon as possible.”

Cicolari, who owns the Bergamo-based Esport Palace also had his gaming devices seized. He talked about the seizure and what it means to the community. He also spoke about the benefits the regulations will offer to the community and the general growth of esports in Italy.

“Yesterday I wasn’t happy, but today I am. The lack of specific regulations was always a challenge for us to promote events in Italy. It has been a small step for a man but one giant leap for the scene”.

He was of the opinion that new esports regulations in particular areas will help the community attract more investments because local brands and business owners will feel secure seizing esports financing opportunities.

While there exists no clear date for the resumption of closed esports venues across Italy. Cicolari anticipates a provisional leave allowing the esports venues to operate will be issued soonest, pending when the government puts the regulations in place.

He also applauded the support of the community during the entire controversy. He believes the support gotten from the community played an integral role in the positive resolution attained. Stated that the union of the fans, media, professionals, and politicians was something he has never seen happen in the esports industry.

“The audience, the media, professionals of the industry, and some politicians were really supportive. It was a union that I had never seen before in the gaming and esports scene.”

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This year’s event marked the sixth StarCraft II: NationWars tournament in history, excluding the NationWars II Norway vs South Korea exhibition match which took place in late September 2014.

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Unlike the previous five instalments, which featured either eight or 16 teams, the StarCraft II: NationWars 2019 event featured 24 national teams coming together to compete for a US $40,000 prize pool.

After more than two months since the tournament began, the 24-team lineup was reduced to a final four – Italy, Finland, France and South Korea – who met in the NationWars semi-finals on Sunday, December 8.

Finland vs Italy semi-final (4-1)

The first match of the semi-finals saw Finland clash with Italy in what proved to be one of the most one-sided fixtures of the playoffs.

The spotlight was on the matchup between Joona “Serral” Sotala and Riccardo “Reynor” Romiti, seeing how the duo had already met several times this season. At the HomeStory Cup, which took place at the end of November, Serral just managed to edge by his Italian counterpart to secure the title, thus avenging Reynor’s win in the semi-finals of the Blizzard World Championship Series.

Serral ended up winning both of the two NationWars meetings with Reynor. His teammate Iiro “TheMusZero” Kumpulainen defeated Alessandro “Ryosis” Rossi in round one, while Wenlei “ZhuGeLiang” Dai failed to achieve the same success against Eduard “Ryu” Condori. Nonetheless, Finland won the bout with a convincing 4-1 record to reach the final for the first time.

South Korea vs France semi-final (4-1)

The second semi-finals bout between France and South Korea ended just as many would have expected. The clash gave the Asian team a chance to avenge their 0-5 defeat to France in NationWars III, and they did exactly that.

The first match between Théo “PtitDrogo” Freydière and Lee “INnoVation” Shin Hyung did not look too bad for the French side, as it seemed like PtitDrogo would come out victorious. That was not the case, however, as INnoVation managed to bounce back from a slow start to secure the win.

His teammates Kim “Stats” Dae Yeob and Eo “soO” Yoon Soo followed, beating Clément “Clem” Desplanches and Alexis “MarineLorD” Eusebio respectively to earn the South Koreans a 3-0 lead. In round four PtitDrogo secured a win against soO but failed to see the same success against Stats, who closed out the series at 4-1 in favour of the reigning champions.

Italy vs France third-place match (4-3)

Italy ended up claiming the bronze medal after edging past France in an extremely close third-place match.

The man of the match was Reynor, who won four out of five matches and was the reason for his side’s comeback. Italy entered round six 2-3, when they decided to send Reynor on the battlefield to finish the business. The 17-year-old SCII esports star lived up to the hype, defeating Clem twice to earn the Italians their first-ever podium finish at NationWars.

Finland vs South Korea final (5-3)

With that, it all came down to a best-of-nine (Bo9) series between Finland and South Korea. All eyes were on the Koreans, who were on the verge of securing their third title in a row, but the Finns had other ideas.

Serral started the series with a convincing win against INnoVation, while Stats returned the favour in round two with a victory over TheMusZero. ZhuGeLiang reclaimed the lead for Finland in round three as he edged past soO, only to see his team lose two in a row as Stats defeated both Serral and ZhuGeLiang to give the Koreans a 3-2 lead.

After losing two in a row, Finland opted to bring back Serral to finish the business. Despite the immense pressure on his shoulders, the ‘Finnish Phenom’ once again proved why he is regarded as one of the best SCII players in the world.

Serral avenged his defeat and took down Stats to tie the match at 3-3, then kept his momentum going with wins over INnoVation in round seven and Stats in round eight to lead Finland to their first-ever NationWars title.