The place Gaming Meets Sport: Inaspect Astana’s Phygital Games

ASTANA — What occurs when a online game consequence carries over to a basketball court docket, soccer pitch or fight area? That is the central thought behind phygital sport, which mixes digital and bodily competitors inside a single match. As Astana hosts the Games of the Future 2026 powered by Samruk Kazyna (GOTF 2026) from July 29 to Aug. 9, athletes and organizers informed The Astana Times how competitors, know-how and reside manufacturing are being introduced collectively throughout the town. 

More than 800 athletes representing over 50 nationalities are competing in eight disciplines throughout 4 venues. The mixed prize pool exceeds $4.5 million, with payouts extending past the medal positions, permitting groups to earn prize cash primarily based on their remaining placement. 

Reaching audiences throughout markets and platforms

According to preliminary estimates supplied by the organizers, broadcasts from the primary 5 days of GOTF 2026 generated roughly 185 million views throughout tv, streaming and community-streaming platforms. The event is being distributed in additional than 16 languages by 54 media-rights companions and 120 group streamers, roughly twice the distribution community used for the 2025 version in Abu Dhabi. 

Alongside main platforms equivalent to Huya, Bilibili, DouYu, VK, Rutube and Play TV, group streamers convey the competitors to audiences by the creators, groups and video games they already observe. This permits GOTF 2026 to achieve viewers past typical sports activities broadcasting. 

“What makes the Astana edition distinctive is not only its size, but the number of different competition formats operating simultaneously. Each discipline has its own technical requirements, rules and audience expectations, yet all eight must function within one coordinated event system across several venues,” the pinnacle of the Games of the Future 2026 powered by Samruk Kazyna Directorate Alibek Khassenov informed The Astana Times. 

“The scale lies in bringing those separate environments together without losing the identity or competitive integrity of each discipline,” he added. 

Those disciplines can entice markedly totally different audiences. Established esports titles arrive with worldwide fan bases {and professional} gamers who’re already well-known inside their gaming communities. Newer hybrid codecs, in contrast, should introduce their guidelines whereas constructing recognition round their golf equipment and athletes. 

Among the viewers was Vladislav Bakhmetev, who traveled to Astana primarily to attend the PUBG event. He started enjoying the sport in 2020 and has since carefully adopted its skilled competitions. 

“I play PUBG and am a big fan of the game. I follow the professional scene closely, so I learned about the tournament almost immediately after it was announced. I am glad major competitions are happening in this region, and I am especially happy to see how Kazakhstan has organized the PUBG tournament,” Bakhmetev informed The Astana Times.

How phygital competitors works 

In the hybrid disciplines, athletes start with a digital competitors earlier than shifting right into a bodily contest. Their outcomes from the 2 phases are linked and contribute to the ultimate rating.

In Phygital Basketball Presented by Halyk Fund, groups first compete within the 3on3 FreeStyle online game after which play a reside two-on-two basketball match. Phygital Football UFL Presented by Samruk Kazyna strikes from the UFL soccer simulator to a five-a-side match. 

Phygital Fighting Presented by Kazzinc combines a combating online game with combined martial arts, whereas Phygital Shooter CS 2 Presented by Yandex GO connects Counter-Strike 2 with a bodily laser-tag contest. In Phygital Dancing Presented by Solidcore Resources, Just Dance know-how digitally tracks and scores athletes’ reside performances. 

A robust digital consequence can provide a staff a bonus earlier than the bodily stage begins, nevertheless it doesn’t assure victory. Teams should deal with each phases as components of the identical match, adjusting their techniques because the mixed rating develops. 

GOTF 2026 additionally embrace established esports titles that stay solely digital, together with Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and PUBG: Battlegrounds. The program subsequently locations hybrid competitors and standard esports aspect by aspect, linked by their reliance on gaming, technique and know-how. 

Because ends in the hybrid disciplines depend upon efficiency in two totally different environments, golf equipment should additionally put together their athletes for each. 

Professional basketball or soccer gamers might arrive with in depth expertise within the bodily sport however much less familiarity with its digital model. Experienced players, in the meantime, should be prepared for the tactical and bodily calls for of the reside stage. 

Samson Arakelyan, CEO of Astana Basketball Club, stated PBC Astana spent roughly one month getting ready for the event, with a lot of its extra coaching centered on the digital part. The staff represented the host metropolis within the Phygital Basketball Presented by Halyk Fund competitors and reached the quarterfinals. 

“I had no concerns about the physical stage because all our players are professionals and were ready to compete. The digital component is something we still need to develop and continuously improve,” Arakelyan informed The Astana Times.

For that to occur, Kazakhstan wants to carry extra home phygital competitions and never solely qualifying occasions, however common tournaments inside the nation,” he added.

Digital competitors requires its personal playbook

The solely digital disciplines demand a special type of preparation, however their tactical depth is not any much less in depth. 

PUBG carried one of many largest prize swimming pools on the Games, bringing collectively 16 invited skilled groups competing for $1 million. The discipline included globally acknowledged organizations equivalent to Team Falcons, Twisted Minds, Team Vitality, T1 and Virtus.professional. 

It additionally featured gamers with years of expertise on the highest degree. Team Falcons’ James “TGLTN” Giezen and Tristan “Shrimzy” Nowicki, for instance, have every earned roughly $1 million in profession prize cash. With that degree of expertise within the discipline, success is dependent upon detailed preparation as a lot as taking pictures accuracy or response velocity. 

“There is a lot of strategy involved in PUBG beyond simply shooting. You have to study all the teams around you because each team usually loots in a particular location or landmark. Every zone and every game is different, so there is a lot of preparation involved,” Team Falcons head coach Owen Andrew Monaghan informed The Astana Times.

That preparation continues after every match. Team Vitality supervisor Sergei Britok stated groups can evaluate recordings of full maps and hint the actions of each opponent. 

“We analyze our own movements and assess how we could have entered a particular location more effectively. We discuss where a grenade should have been thrown, which route would have been better and what position the players should have taken,” he informed The Astana Times.

“In some areas, players can even dig their own cover. There are many factors that we review to understand what could have been done better and how to increase the team’s chances of remaining in the game longer,” he added.

Beyond the techniques of a person title, Monaghan stated occasions equivalent to GOTF additionally present how the skilled communities surrounding esports and conventional sport have gotten more and more interconnected.

“Here we see many professional athletes playing video games, while many professional gamers grew up playing traditional sports. As esports continues to develop, we are seeing more crossover between the two worlds. That is why an event like this is so interesting. It shows the public that gamers can be interested in traditional sports, while traditional athletes can also be interested in esports. It is great to see those communities coming together,” he stated.

How Astana is staging the event and what stays afterward 

The Games of the Future is organized round golf equipment quite than nationwide groups. Athletes compete underneath skilled sports activities golf equipment, esports organizations and specialist phygital groups, usually alongside teammates of various nationalities. Once these groups arrive in Astana, nonetheless, their separate competitions should function as one coordinated occasion. Digital gameplay, bodily scoring and worldwide broadcasting happen concurrently throughout 4 venues. 

Each venue makes use of a special mixture of gaming gear, competitors areas, cameras, lighting, sound and communications programs. Game knowledge should be synchronized in actual time with reside footage, commentary, area screens and broadcast graphics. 

“From a technical standpoint, this is one of the most complex projects. Many modern technologies are combined in this project, and all these separate solutions must work as one coordinated ecosystem,” stated Khassenov.

According to the organizers, the manufacturing system contains roughly 1,750 sq. meters of LED screens throughout the competitors venues, greater than 1,200 managed lights and augmented-reality graphics displaying scores, statistics and digital parts throughout broadcasts. The venues draw on a mixed 7.5-megawatt energy system, supported by 17 diesel turbines that present backup for event servers, scoring programs, communications and reside protection. 

Organizers additionally anticipate GOTF 2026 to supply a right away financial return for the town. Approximately 10,000 overseas guests are projected to attend, with their spending anticipated to generate between $10 million and $12 million in turnover for airways, motels, eating places, taxis and different companies. 

The longer-term worth will depend upon how the gear and experience developed for the Games are used after the ultimate competitors. 

According to the organizers, know-how bought for the event is predicted to assist future worldwide competitions, deliberate phygital facilities, an esports academy and new coaching services. The infrastructure might additionally contribute to preparations for the International Esports Federation World Esports Championship, which Astana is scheduled to host in 2027.