Roaring fans, waving flags, drummers—and among them, ordinary spectators. What at first glance resembles a Ligue 1 match day actually reinforces Paris’ status as the eSports capital of Europe.
From February 13 to 15, the French metropolis will be transformed into a veritable eSports cauldron. French fans, famous for their loudness, will fill the stands. Signs and flags will line the roaring audience.
The excitement in Paris is huge as the world’s best teams compete in the Six Invitational for nothing less than the world championship title – and a place in the history of tactical shooters.
Paris on the rise
The positive response is due, among other things, to the high level of social acceptance of eSports in France. According to Pierre Rabadan, deputy sports director for Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and president of the Paris tourism office Paris je t’aime, one in six French people are already actively involved in eSports.
Accordingly, numerous organizations have settled in Paris. In addition to professional training centers, there are increasingly open meeting places for fans, creators, and players that promote exchange and collaborative gaming. In addition, some of the biggest competitions in the scene are regularly hosted on the Seine.
The road to the World Championship
These days, it’s the Six Invitational—the undisputed highlight of the Rainbow Six Siege competition calendar. Three million US dollars in prize money, fame, prestige, and international attention underscore the importance of the event, whose sporting quality is equally impressive: throughout the year, tournaments had to be won, ranking points collected, and direct competitors kept at bay in order to even qualify for the World Championship.
But that’s not all: in 2026, the Six Invitational will celebrate its tenth anniversary. First held in Montreal in 2017, Ubisoft’s premium event quickly became the central hub of the international scene. With the current edition, Paris is only the second city after Montreal to host the prestigious tournament again – a decision with symbolic significance.
“This game is a phenomenon. We’re talking about more than 100 million players worldwide,“ explained François-Xavier Deniele, Vice President of Esports & Competitive Gaming at Ubisoft, on the sidelines of the event at the Adidas Arena. ”With Rainbow Six Siege, we have created a global ecosystem that is particularly well established in France – a country that plays a pioneering role in esports.”
Flowers for the anniversary
“For us, it made sense in many ways to hold the Six Invitational in Paris again,” said Maxime Vial, Esports Director at Ubisoft. “Firstly, Paris is Ubisoft’s home town – and therefore a fitting location to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Six Invitational. Secondly, it has been several years since the last major Rainbow Six Siege event was held in the French capital: 2021 was the last time a major event took place here.”
The organizers also attach great importance to local identity. As BLAST CEO Robbie Douek revealed, integrating the Parisian lifestyle is a central element of the staging. According to him, the Six Invitational is the first esports tournament ever to hire a gardener specifically to replicate the city’s typical floral diversity within the arena – a deliberate symbol of the close connection between Paris and esports.
