MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. The Tekken 7 cyber sports tournament in Moscow this month gathered the strongest players from BRICS countries (an economic group comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Russian eSports Federation President Dmitry Smit told TASS on Monday.

The Tekken 7 championship involving players from BRICS member states was hosted by the Russian capital of Moscow between November 11 and 12, 2023. China’s XiaoChen won the tournament, with Russia’s Sergey Platov (Strong) finishing in 2nd place and his compatriot Alexey Komissarov (Higem) finishing in 3rd place.

"It is great to see so many strong athletes come together at the BRICS international Tekken 7 competition," Smit said. "Cybersports has always crossed all boundaries in favor of personal interaction and this is what the Russian eSports Federation is all about"

"I congratulate all the winners in the tournament and hope that next year our Russian players will do better and win the gold," he added.

The Tekken 7 cyber sports tournament was organized by the Russian eSports Federation for players representing BRICS member states. It was held in Moscow and offered 1.5 million rubles (over $16,390) in prize money.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko announced last month that based on the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, there would be some new kinds of competitions in Russia next year - the Friendship Games and the Games of the Future.

The inaugural cybersport Games of the Future in 2024 will consist of new disciplines using advanced technology, the digital environment and physical activity. The competitions are designed to use cutting-edge developments in cybersports, robotics, both augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR), information technology (IT) and artificial intelligence (AI). The tournament offers $25 million in prize money.

As part of the preparations for the Games of the Future, Russia has organized a series of Phygital Games. The first Phygital Games were held in September 2022 and they were followed by numerous editions until today with the most recent one held in Kazan between October 5 and 22.