TSG eSports: new, young, brave

The TSG eSports FIFA 23 season is already up and running. Lukas 'lukas_1004' Seiler, Fabrice 'whiteezz05' Weiss and new addition Romeo 'Romeo_439' Rissling are scoring goals on the console, as Luigi 'LuiLatino' Indrieri and Jonas 'bit0911' Bederke are serving up great content. This is the new set up under new team manager Gordon Lesser, as we enter the final season of the "FIFA" series. The game's developer EA SPORTS will change the name with the next issue and release the football simulation EA SPORTS FC. The final season under the name FIFA should be a great success for the TSG eSports department. "We want to establish ourselves as a club within the Virtual Bundesliga and promote our young team," says Lesser.

The 25-year-old, who started in his new role in September, has a special connection to TSG. The sports journalist did his A-levels in in Sinsheim, and has been a supporter of the club since his childhood. "I was going to the stadium back in the Regionalliga days, but I've also seen TSG in the Champions League against Liverpool." Lesser has already hosted various eSports events for the club and, after his A-levels, worked in match and video analysis for the junior teams. He also gained experience as a commentator and editor. He has a close connection with TSG, "so I did not have to think long when the offer came in".

The new team manager is looking to inspire even greater interest in the eSports department among the followers of TSG Hoffenheim. "The main goal must be to bring our fans closer to the fascination of gaming and allow the community to participate interactively." There are a number of different possibilities for doing so at TSG. For the first time, FIFA will be played exclusively on PlayStation 5 in the competitions this year.

Women's football, gameplay and other changes

FIFA 23 was released in September and includes some new features: for the first time in the history of the game series, women's club teams are also playable. At first, however, only the teams from the English and French leagues are part of the game, and the FLYERALARM Women's Bundesliga is unfortunately not yet integrated. The cover shows that women's football is becoming more important in the game. Alongside Kylian Mbappé, who is the face of the game for the third time in a row, the cover also features Chelsea's Australian star Samantha Kerr. She is the first woman on a FIFA cover and in her home country she is even the sole face of the game. In total, more than 19,000 professionals, 700 teams, 100 stadiums and 30 leagues can be played in FIFA 23.

The game itself has also been tweaked. In addition to more realistic player movement, a new shooting mechanism, revised set-piece situations and a better AI understanding of the game have been programmed.

EA SPORTS has also made a long-awaited feature possible in FIFA 23: for the first time, cross-platform gaming is possible. For example, a PC player can now play against users of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

TSG eChampion & Fan eCUP: The fastest way to the limelight

Not only the eSports professionals will find the best place to play at TSG, but the fans can also actively participate in everything TSG have to offer, and thus work their way towards the team. That's exactly what Romeo_439 did. He is now in the squad, having won his spot by becoming the TSG eChampion. Among 1,523 participants, Romeo Rissling was the best player and won the competition in June, beating the best 32 players in the grand finale at the PreZero Arena.

In parallel to the TSG's Bundesliga home matches, the TSG Fan eCup is held at regular intervals. Online qualifying tournaments are held on Fridays before the TSG first team's matches, and the finalists meet on match day in the modern gaming studio in the PreZero Arena. The game is streamed live on the Twitch channel and broadcast on the Arena's video walls. The winner receives not only two tickets for the following home game, but also qualifies for the big TSG eChampion final.

And who knows – maybe you can follow in the footsteps of Romeo and win yourself a place in the squad. The diverse tournaments of TSG eSports offer plenty of chances to do just that.