At first glance, the news alert leaves many speechless — and appears to place France’s Ministry of Education in an awkward position. At a time when officials are publicly emphasizing the fight against screen addiction among children and adolescents, the national “Esports 2026–2030” strategy, approved last month by the Prime Minister’s Office following interministerial consultations, includes an education component aimed at “integrating” esports — competitive video gaming — “into educational and school pathways.”
The matter was revealed on May 7 by Radio France’s investigative unit, which obtained the presentation documents for the proposed strategy. According to the Education Ministry, the idea would be to create “adjusted schedules” for these players, much as it already does for “high-level athletes,” the ministry told the newspaper.
Why not special schedules for influencers as well?
But what exactly are we talking about? Not “virtual sports,” which recreate traditional disciplines such as tennis or boxing in virtual reality and involve physical movement. “Esports” refers instead to the competitive practice of video gaming. Borrowing the codes of professional sports, it pits players or teams against one another in online or in-person tournaments, complete with referees, coaches, spectators and sponsors.
From Atari’s 1980 “Space Invaders” tournament, whose finals were held in New York, to the upcoming “Rocket League” world championships — a game combining soccer and cars — which will bring together the world’s 16 best teams and thousands of spectators at Paris La Défense Arena from May 22 to 24, esports has become increasingly professionalized, against a backdrop of lucrative economic prospects.
League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Fortnite
The global market, dominated largely by the United States but also popular in China and South Korea, is estimated at €1.4 billion. In Europe (where France is at the forefront), revenues reach €141 million, with some 40 million players, and major company sponsors such as video-game publisher Ubisoft.
From semi-professionals to internationally ranked competitors, players can earn between €1,000 and €15,000 per month playing the most popular titles: League of Legends, a fantasy-themed online battle arena; Counter-Strike, in which two teams compete to carry out or prevent a terrorist attack; Valorant, a shooter featuring two teams of five players; or Fortnite and Call of Duty.
Against this backdrop, the national esports strategy approved by the Prime Minister’s Office did not emerge from nowhere. One may recall the June 2022 reception at the Élysée Palace, during which President Emmanuel Macron met with industry figures and pledged to host major esports events in France. In 2023, he declared his ambition to “make France a major esports nation.”
Yet he also appeared to display a degree of contradiction when, in an interview with Brut last February, he linked video gaming to “the violence taking hold in society among younger people.”
Following backlash from gamers, the president posted on X in March expressing support for esports clubs such as Karmine Corp, Team Vitality and Gentle Mates “for the creation of a French national team.” The target in sight is the “Esports Nations Cup,” a brand-new international tournament scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, through the month of November.
At the same time, France’s General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and Research was tasked with studying the issue. In 2024, it released a report emphasizing the need for stronger sector organization and governance between the state and private actors within the framework of the “competitive, economic and social development of esports.”
And so France’s Ministry of Education has now been called upon to play an active role in the national Esports 2026–2030 strategy. As with many issues, schools are once again being asked to contribute.
The plan first calls for “integrating esports into educational pathways, particularly through extracurricular activities and training programs related to digital professions,” according to the document reproduced by Radio France.
“For the Education Ministry, the aim is to identify these young players competing at the international level, who may need to travel for tournaments, and to adapt their schedules, just as we do for high-level athletes,” the ministry told the newspaper. “This will concern only a limited number of students — perhaps a few dozen.”
In the esports world, competition generally involves regular training sessions lasting several hours per day, often with a coach and focused on a single game.
“The goal is to gain visibility into these practices and discuss screen time with parents,” the ministry also said, denying any contradiction with the school system’s official stance on combating excessive screen exposure.
Seven years after it was implemented in middle schools, the 2026-27 school year will also bring a ban on mobile phones in French high schools.
“The government needs to come to its senses. There are numerous warnings about the dangers linked to the growth of esports. Schools are absolutely not the place for it,” the physical education teachers’ union Snep-FSU declared, citing “alarming findings” regarding “young people’s screen addiction,” “the devastating impact of social networks on mental health,” and “the lack of physical activity.”
Economic interests
The strategy approved by the Prime Minister’s Office also plans to “launch a national ‘Esport & Education’ program to raise awareness among young people about professional opportunities and ethical issues.”
The ministry insists that this is “not a school curriculum or an initiative taking place during class hours.” Yet however much the Education Ministry stresses the need to establish a framework, it is difficult not to view the arrival of esports in schools as a form of normalization — even encouragement — of the practice.
From that perspective, the experiment launched in 2022 by the Versailles education authority is thought-provoking. It involves around 3,000 middle- and high-school students who are invited to play, in workshops lasting “1.5 hours each week,” games such as League of Legends, Super Smash Bros., Rocket League or Valorant under teacher supervision.
The objective is to assess whether the practice improves students’ cognitive performance. Reflection and patience for some games, extraordinary dexterity for others…
A doctoral student has been tasked with studying the issue as part of the experiment. According to Radio France’s investigation, his thesis is funded by ArmaTeam, a company specializing in organizing video-game competitions — an unsettling blurring of boundaries.
This especially true since the national strategy itself is reportedly overseen by a liaison committee bringing together game publishers, esports teams and tournament organizers.
