In the favelas of Brazil, young people dream of being the “Neymar of video games”

I could say Neymar or Vinícius Junior, but when the teenager Yan Araújo is asked about his idols, he answers without hesitation: “Nobru and Cerol”, two Freefire players, a video game that is all the rage in Brazilian favelas.

Away from the ball in the country where soccer is king, more and more young people like Araújo aspire to become professionals in egames, or electronic sportsattracted by the juicy benefits that a career in this environment can provide.

With the dexterity of a virtuoso guitarist, he slides his long, thin fingers across the screen of his cell phone. It is not just a game of Free Fire, but a training to build your dream.

“I have a dream that is about this… playing Free Fire, being well known and being able to help other people,” Araújo tells AFP. The young man, 15 years old and dark-skinned, wears a red sports jacket and, in a trance with the game, gently shakes his head and occasionally smiles, in complicity with his phone.

Along with five other young people from “P. Sul”, a favela half an hour from downtown Brasilia, was the 2021 Free Fire champion in the Federal District, in the “Taça -trofeo- das Favelas”, a tournament organized by the NGO Centra Única de Favelas (CUFA).

In Free Fire, up to 50 players parachute onto an island in search of weapons and artifacts and must, as a team, eliminate the rest of the players.

The requirements are simple: just a cell phone with an internet connection. The game was developed in 2017 by a Vietnamese company, and Brazil ranks among the top three countries with the most downloads.

sources of income

“Young people are crazy (for the game)”, sums up Carlos Campos, CUFA coordinator in Brasilia. Last year there were 80,000 registered from favelas competing in the national Free Fire tournament, and they hope to exceed the mark in 2022.

A study by the Data Favela Institute in 2021 showed that 96% of children up to 15 years old from favelas wanted to be professionals in the e-gamesand for 29%, making a career was the biggest dream of their life.

“Many saw that there is a profession and that it is a means to earn money”Campos says. In 2021, the CUFA tournament distributed 100,000 reais – about $20,000 – to the winning team.

But tournaments are just one of the ways to generate income. The game has turned the best into professionals and influencers.

Some like Bruno “Nobru” Goes, who has 13 million followers on Instagram, broadcasts his games online, attracting the interest of brands and generating money with views and sponsorships.

At the age of 21, “Nobru”, born in a favela in São Paulo, gained such notoriety that he was called the “Neymar of Free Fire” and, being the most popular in Brazillocal media have reported that thanks to his broadcasts he bills two million reais (about 500,000 dollars) per month.

“Practically, (Nobru) is a Neymar of the game. He left the town, a small favela, he worked hard and it worked. There is a lot of work and effort, early mornings playing, and today he is there, ”explains Araújo admiringly.

advance on football

In the favelas, where talented soccer players like Real Madrid’s Vinícius Junior or Manchester City attacker Gabriel Jesus have emerged, coaches perceive greater disinterest in the ball.

“Some don’t come to train anymore because they stay playing Free Fire”, says Joao de Oliveira, coach of “Toque de Bola”, a soccer school in a marginal neighborhood of Brasilia. “It is early to say that the majority is staying with the video game, but every day it gains more space”.

The egames are even conquering a place within traditional clubs such as Flamengo from Rio de Janeiro and Corinthians from Sao Paulo, who already have their professional Free Fire teams.

Matheus da Silva, Araújo’s partner, assures that he trains for one day to be like “Bak”, nickname of the Brazilian Gabriel Lessa in Free Fire. “(Bak) He won seven national championships. He is like (Lionel) Messi, who has seven Ballon d’Ors”.

At first, the mother of this teenager, Claudia Gomes da Silva, disapproved of her son spending so many hours in front of his cell phone, but with the championship won last year, something changed.

“(Free Fire) is not just a game. See if in the future (Matheus) is an excellent player and lives from that, ”he says. (I)