Two of the biggest governing bodies in the esport world just signed a monumental agreement. The International Esports Federation (IESF) and the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF) sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The goal is to unite the efforts of both parties in developing the global esports ecosystem. The ceremony was officially published today, March 31st at 16:00 GMT.

Due to the global events, the ceremony took place online, with influential representatives from organizations joining in to praise the occasion.

Impact of the agreement

The Asian Electronic Sports Federation finally works under the same umbrella with other large continental and national federations. We fully expect the recently established European Esports Federation will also follow suit and sign a similar memorandum with both parties. The MOUs are an important step to uniting esports governance into some form of cohesiveness.

Additionally, both presidents of the IESF/AESF Colin Webster and Kenneth Fok showcased similar sentiments in their statements. Both federations strive to ensure a greater degree of delivery and promote new initiatives aimed towards the development and recognition of esports as a sport.

What is interesting for the regular “Esport Joe”, is that we can finally see governing bodies develop a dialogue towards a unified betterment of esports. This would eventually lead to decent global events where professional high-tier athletes deem attendance worthy.

So far, most recent International competitions featured lackluster teams build on amateur talent. The incentive for high-calibre players was simply not there. A unified governing body would mean more incentives for National Federations to get involved and potentially garner solid national teams.

This in turn would hopefully bring the glory days of WCG and ESWC national competition back into the spotlight. For now we are positively optimistic that this new agreement brings a new era of esports recognition.

You can view the full signing ceremony in the following video: