Lagosians will have the opportunity once again to witness video games competition with players from across the African continent set to gather at the Landmark Event Center in Victoria Island on Friday, 8 August 2025.
Interestingly, the competition this year, which is in its 4th edition, will see players winning N15m pool of prize money in different categories of the tournament.
The 2025 edition of GamrX, organised by Gamr Africa in collaboration with the Lagos State Sports Commission, is another platform by the E-Sports Federation of Nigeria, headed by Damilola Pedro and the Lagos State Government, to showcase the country and indeed the Centre of Excellence to the world after a month-long series of international tournaments hosted in the city of Lagos, courtesy of the magnanimity of the sports-loving Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Speaking at the press conference held on Wednesday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos, ahead of the GamrX, which will feature players from no fewer than nine African nations such as Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Benin Republic and Cameroon, Pedro said the video games championship will attract champions from these countries to defend their titles at the GamrX with the N15m pool of prize money being shared across different categories in the competition, adding that all hands are on deck to ensure a memorable competition.
While commending the support from the Lagos State Sports Commission, she said gone are the days when people saw video games as a means of keeping idleness away. Pedro noted that there is validation that video games enhance creativity and the games have not been a time-wasting activity; rather, they are meaningful ways of engaging the minds. Now, with a platform like the GamrX, players can make a fortune for themselves.
She enjoined Nigerians to look at video games from different perspectives, even as she was so excited that the country has continued to open up to activities such as E-Sports.
Director General of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Hon. Lekan Fatodu, described the involvement of the state government in E-Sports as a way of giving every talent a sense of belonging, adding that not everybody will want to play football or other popular sports.
He reiterated the state government’s commitment to sports and talent development by not only concentrating on one sport, but across disciplines as a critical platform to engage the youth positively.
Fatodu emphasised that sports have become a global currency. He stressed that the best way to harness this opportunity is by encouraging young people to actively participate in sporting activities that can propel them to stardom.
He said, “This is another opportunity for us as we are particularly delighted tapping into the huge and massive market of E-Sports, which has been reported to generate over N268m in Nigeria.
“We are the set of individuals who do not wait for opportunities to come to us. We chase opportunity,” he said.
He noted that Lagos State is a proud host of the GamrX, adding that competition like the video games is created to break the social barrier in the society, even as he said that the doors of the Sports Commission are open for more opportunities and partnership for talent and youth development.
“We want our young population to have choices where their talents can fit in,” Fatodu said.
According to him, the support for the 2025 GamrX is in the areas of feasibility, logistics, and monitoring and evaluation.
