Competitive airsoft is now coming of age. It is not because competitive airsoft is a new thing, but because of the efforts of individuals and organisations on refining existing airsoft competitions and giving them global potential. Action Air, SpeedSoft, and 3-Gun Nation Airsoft are now having adherents from around the world with Action Air having just held its first official World Shoot in Hong Kong early this year under the official supervision of the International Practical Shooting Confederation or IPSC.

Now, there is a growing competitive airsoft that should attract the attention of those who prefer force-on-force scenario-based competition. Battle Arena is now onn its 5th Season and it is getting more traction with the participation of different teams from different countries who will then battle for being crowned the world champs each season.

Just think of Battle Arena as a live-action version of Rainbow Six: Siege airsoft-style or CounterStike and it traces its roots in Russia.

To further explain it further, let’s take it from Mark Butman, who handles international sales for Tactical Game Innovations (TAGInn) also popularly known as Airsoft Pyrotechnics, one of the pillars for the growth of Battle Arena as he writes about how this competition came about:

What indicates successful media-projects in comparing to the other ones? It is the willingness to overcome any obstacles met along the way, the ability to feel the audience needs, and to take dramatic changes to the project if something goes wrong.

Seven years ago, Andrey Kushnarev, a successful Russian telecom manager, has been addicted to airsoft. He and his friends have been playing weekend after weekend at abandoned military bases or construction sites around Moscow. When there wasn’t enough time for playing, he watched the videos of the other airsoft games. Andrey was never satisfied with the quality of these videos because of the unprofessional footage. Nothing was clear, and the visual sequence was dull and boring. One day, he got a bright idea that if people like to PLAY airsoft, they will also like to WATCH it if content is well-made. 

After investing in GoPro action cams himself, Andrey gathered his friends who were willing to participate in this airsoft competition format. There were also few guys who took on the role to take video from sidelines, then to edit it later. Then came the day when the idea to make a video sequence of the airsoft fight looks like the first person shooting video games was embraced.

During the next year, Andrey shared the video to his friends, producers, gunsmith companies, Special Forces units, and many others who might fit the project. Many of them liked the format a lot, and suggested some useful improvements. For instance, members of the Special Forces units noticed that players have really poor personal skills, have no idea about the basics of a firefight, making it look awful and unprofessional from their viewpoint. Then Andrey asked them to train teams, but was turned down. The military agreed to show some basics to the teams and improved the project a lot by this action. Some SFX specialists suggested using the glowing “tracer” BBs during the fight, in order to let spectators see the directions of the fire.

One of the visual solutions for game spectators is a mini-map located at a corner of the screen, allowing them to feel the battle, in a way most spectators are used to – video games style. The commentators are enhance the viewing experience by explaining the situation on the field. Some interesting facts about league, basics of the airsoft, and even player’s bios. All of these make watching each match very engrossing, even for people who were never interested in airsoft before.

“During the filming of the first season, we changed the scenario just before the finals, and it resulted into a very special and interesting atmosphere”, Andrey said. “At the end of the day there hail came down, so we said, the guys ‘up there’ were also playing airsoft with BBs”.

In that moment, the pilot episode stoke the TV producers, since it became clear that it should be turned into a TV show, and not just stay as an internet project. The “Battle Arena”, in this case, will cover a much wider audience who have never seen, much less played, airsoft before.

Nowadays, the “Battle Arena” is the only international airsoft competitive event that offers some unique features, like interesting scenarios that are run with clear set of rules and a professional crew of referees, teams from all around the world, professional live broadcasting, and compelling post-production format.

The first person view which has all the necessary info about the game process and player’s status is shown in the HUD.  The tournament runs under the “Double Elimination” rules, which means that even if a team lost a round, there is still a chance to take a revenge and move further the tournament ladder.

There was a combined total of over 1 million views from all around the world watching the “Battle Arena” live broadcasts and the post-processed episodes. The most recent, fourth, season was commentated using Russian and English, and was broadcasted live on several Internet platforms like - Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, Vkontakte, and Odnoklassniki.

The success of the project is not only measured in viewership numbers on social media platforms, but also how it is changing the industry. A chain of events is happening that is causing the industry evolution.  The tournament is starting to be attractive to amateur players who dream of playing in professional teams in the future. The pro teams need the new special gear that manufacturers may offer according to demand, so the new and innovative gear is appearing on the market. Skirmish sites owners are starting to adapt their facilities to fit the new format which is causing fields be much more safe and professional. New positions like coaches, team managers, and promoters are being generated as well. The younger players are trying to be like their idols from the league. This is also a huge base for the global and local resellers along with manufacturers, to promote their products and services. The first signs of these changes might be already seen in Russia, the “Battle Arena” project allowed for the recognition of airsoft as an official sport in Russia. Isn’t it a dramatic change?

It all started as an individual enthusiast’s heart-rush, and turned into an international wide project step-by-step. The first season was watched by players from many countries, then the teams from all over the Europe requested for requirements to participate in the tournament. The fourth season finals took place in Finland and hosted teams from 17 countries - Finland, Germany, France, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, The Netherlands, UK, USA, Israel, Lithuania, and Belarus. Prior to the finals, every country held qualifying games in order to determine the best national team that will represent their country at the “Battle Arena” finals.

This project is moving forward. For this year,  the North American division will finally see the light. During the autumn season, many American and Canadian teams will go through the qualification rounds; then best teams will meet at the finals at one of the American arenas in the very beginning of 2019.

Stay tuned.

Thus, we are seeing growth of Battle Arena across the Atlantic in the Northern Hemisphere. The success and  growth of this tournament is not totally dependent on how the organisers shape it to be, but also on the enthusiasm and professionalism of the airsoft teams competing at all levels or qualifying rounds. After all Battle Arena’s overall objective, gleaming from what Mark wrote, is to become the world’s professional Airsoft league. With the growth of extreme games and eSports, why not airsoft have its own professional league? It is in fact a dream of airsoft players but no organisation has come close to what Battle Arena has achieved.

Interested in participating in Battle Arena? You can contact the Battle Arena via the official website or via the Battle Arena Facebook Page. It is best if you know of an owner of an airsoft CQB game facility, whether it is an indoor or outdoor CQB site who will be willing to refit the facility to fit the requirements of Battle Arena and get accredited. There are benefits for the site owner as it gives mileage to the facility, turning it as the go to place for Battle Arena teams in their local area.

The organisers want the reach of Battle Arena to extend beyond the Northern Hemisphere. With Battle Arena establishing roots in Europe, North America, and Central Asia, we might see East Asia, South East Asia and South America in the future, making Battle Arena a truly global airsoft event with spectators running into millions across different media platforms.

For Battle Arena teams, winning will bring fame, and perhaps fortune will follow in the future as soon as many companies join as sponsors.