As outrageous as it sounds Excel and esports do coincide with each other and a world tournament is sponsored by Microsoft. While the world is more acquainted with shooter and MOBA esports, this idea of spreadsheet creation appears to be a foreign concept. However, readers might be surprised to know that Microsoft Excel has a competitive side as well.
By definition, sports is all about doing an activity one enjoys and competing to be the best in it. In the case of Excel esports, an individual has to have great logical thinking capabilities to solve as many problems as possible in a limited time frame. According to a report from One Esports in 2021, the concept came into existence at the turn of 2020 then and was officially considered to be a sport.
The rules are simple, in Microsoft Excel esports, players are given a case study in which they have to develop a model that allows them to calculate the revenue and production cost for a company under time limitations. Even though it sounds simple, these individuals have to consider various factors like sales, shipping, manufacturing, and labor before submitting a summary of their developed model within a 40-minute time limit.
The criteria for a game to be considered a sport is it has to be challenging and competitive to push players to their limits. In the case of esports, similar conditions apply as well, but the only difference is that the game is played on a digital medium like a PC or console. For this very reason, Microsoft Excel Esports came into consideration as it requires participants to develop a highly optimized calculating model to solve a problem given to them in certain time constraints. To be the very best, players have to create mathematical expressions that would give them the shortest and most accurate route to solving problems given to them.
Microsoft Excel esports checks out all these above-mentioned criteria to create a productivity-based esports. Since most esports around the world are based on quick thinking and reflexes, this take on the genre is more focused on hunting talents who could devise methods to improve calculating algorithms.
During the qualification round, a total of 128 participants are judged on their speed and their accuracy in finding the real answer. Their speed and right answers help them to move above the leaderboards to become the best among all. To raise the stakes, each participant is eliminated after every stage, and only ten players are left for the finals.
Financial Modeling World Cup is one of the biggest events of the newly devised esports which involves players having vast knowledge of Microsoft Excel. The winner of the recent FMWC tournament, Andrew ‘The Annihilator’ Ngai, was awarded $3000 as prize money for the tournament. The following was said by Andrew after securing his win at the tournament:
Before I got into Excel competitions I had already been using Excel for more than a decade, so that quite naturally helped me in these competitions
General people who use Excel spreadsheets on a day-to-day basis can join the tournament, provided they are good enough with their logic. Some of the competitors even have ten years of experience with the software, which makes them a force to be reckoned with. Like other general sports, the participants of the Excel tournament have to train hard and develop themselves to compete and be the best among all.
What do fans think of Microsoft Excel as an esport?
The general audience of gaming does not see Microsoft Excel esports as a game to compete for as it is slow and only involves words and numbers. Some have criticized the existence of the activity for being boring and demand it not to be called esports. Moreover, they have even called it a general coding tournament rather than a sporting event that requires broadcasting.
On the other hand, many have considered this esport and were impressed by the capability of the people to create algorithms in a short span. Some have even taken the opportunity to joke about their own work life and wished to have commentary running behind them as they do their job.
Netizens even made fun of the event as players were given Gaming PCs to work on their algorithm. The reception of the public shows that Excel esports has a long way to go to deserve respect from the public. However, considering how people were apprehensive of traditional esports back in the day, we do believe Microsoft Excel has a bright future as a competitive sport.
