On June 2, 2021, the RACJ officially announced legislative relief:
Amendments to the Act respecting lotteries, publicity contests and amusement machines came into force on June 2, 2021.
As a result, companies holding international competitions no longer have to complete the administrative formalities or pay the regulatory fees previously required by the Régie. In the interests of fairness, this reduction will encourage the inclusion of Quebecers in international advertising competitions.
I’ve been fighting since 2013-2014 against the exclusion of Quebec residents from international esports events; before with Boreal eSports, now via the Fédération québécoise de sports électroniques. Now that we’ve finally managed to prove that esports isn’t a publicity contest and that there’s no legal reason to exclude us, I realize that some companies, like MLG, simply won’t cooperate and are discriminating against Quebec.
Why is Quebec excluded?
A simple misunderstanding…
The FQSE has asked the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux du Québec (RACJ) to clarify the legal status of esports competitions. The RACJ looked into the matter and stated, in an official letter dated November 15, 2016, that esports competitions were not considered “advertising contests” within the meaning of the legislation.
Official letter: HERE
Official letter (French version): HERE
Consequently, these competitions do not fall under the jurisdiction of the RACJ, and organizers are not required to declare the holding of such events or pay the related fees. The RACJ considers esports tournaments to be events in which there is a form of competition based on the skills of the players:
So, when we look at what e-sports is all about, where the emphasis is on the players’ personal skills, it doesn’t seem to us that the primary aim is to promote commercial interests, but rather to enable video game enthusiasts to compete against each other to determine who has the best skills in the field, and as in any competition, a purse or prize is awarded to the most talented participants.
As a reminder, the ambiguity surrounding the legal status of esport competitions previously led to the exclusion of Quebec residents from certain international competitions. By putting an end to this ambiguity, the RACJ’s opinion is a key argument in convincing the organizers of such competitions to welcome Quebec players.
Over the years, I’ve managed to have exclusions removed from a multitude of major events (e.g. Blizzcon, UMG and TESPA) as well as official studio tournaments (e.g. Nintendo, EA, Riot). Unfortunately, exclusion has returned to Activision-Blizzard games because the studio has decided to centralize their “path to pro” on the GameBattles (MLG) platform, which has an internal policy that discriminates against Quebec.
#StopQuebecExclusion
