Farming Simulator esports is one of the most unlikely sensations seen in the industry in recent years.
In a world where many games with dedicated fanbases have unsuccessfully pushed for their respective multiplayer scenes to become competitive and devleop professional scenes, Farming Simulator has started to take hold as a true esport. The game has a respectable following at this point, but it’s still difficult for most outside of the scene to wrap their head around how this game could be played competitively.
Here’s a quick guide to how Farming Simulator esports works.
What is the Farming Simulator League?
Farming Simulator League is the esports branch of the Farming Simulator franchise.
Farming Simulator League takes a unique approach to the game and transforms it into something radically different from the traditional single-player experience. While Farming Simulator is typically about maintaining a farm, earning money, and investing that money into equipment that allows for more efficient farm maintenance, Farming Simulator League has professional gamers completing specific tasks while playing against another team.
Across each format, the games involve two teams with three players each. In the Farming Simulator 2020 World Championship, there was a ban and pick phase for equipment, similar to the hero and champion drafts seen in Dota 2 and League of Legends, respectively.
Typically, Farming Simulator League is built around completing a specific task, such as bailing hay. Both teams will scramble to clear their field, bundle their hay, and store it. Some events have taken a racing approach to this, while more others have used a points system. Though simulator games are meant to be realistic in most cases, Farming Simulator League mixes things up from the main game by adding features like air-dropped power-ups.
Though both teams are playing on the same map in Farming Simulator League, the teams do not necessarly make direct contact with one another. Though teams can “steal” vehicles at the start of a round, teams do not have the ability to sabotage or otherwise prevent their opponents from farming and reaching their goals.
The Farming Simulator League takes a standard esports circuit approach. Teams earn points across a series of events to earn a spot in larger events, with the biggest each year being the Farming Simulator League World Championship.
Who plays in Farming Simulator esports?
Farming Simulator esports inhabits a unique space that is somewhat separated from the rest of the esports world. Though Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Fortnite, and other esports titles have many of the same organizations fielding teams in each game, Farming Simulator esports doesn’t have that.
In Farming Simulator Esports, the vast majority of top teams are sponsored by real-life farming equipment companies. Instead of Team Liquid and G2 Esports playing in the Farming Simulator League World Championship, it’s teams sponsored by agricultural manufacturing companies such as John Deere Gaming and BEDNAR Team. The winner of the 2020 Farming Simulator League World Championship was Trelleborg Team.
There are a handful of multi-game esports organizations that compete in Farming Simulator esports, but it’s a space that actual farming companies have really taken over.
In terms of players, the vast majority of top Farming Simulator esports competitors are from Germany. Six of the top eight teams’s rosters from the 2020 Farming Simulator League World Championship were entirely made up of German players.
