LAN Parties Are Almost Extinct, But Not If You Know Where to Look

This article originally appeared on VICE France.

Slouched in a deckchair wearing flip-flops and a Gryffindor bathrobe, Damien was enjoying a well-deserved break. After playing a few games of Worms and Fall Guys, he was watching an episode of the hit anime Assassination Classroom with his mate Antoine sat at the desk next to him.

At 32 and 31 years old, these two players are seasoned LAN party people. For almost ten years, they’ve been meeting here, at the Gamers Assembly in the western French city of Poitier, to enjoy three days of pure screen time with their friends. Every year, the humongous yellow and red hangars of the Poitiers Exhibition Park transform into a giant camp, packed with endless rows of desks, screens and RGB computer towers.

For the uninitiated, LAN parties are events where groups of people cram together in a room to game for hours on end. LAN stands for Local Area Network, a type of connection between computers that used to be much more reliable and powerful than the internet back in the early 2000s and 2010s. The contemporary equivalent of the once-booming LAN party scene is perhaps eSports, where professional gamers play major tournaments in stadiums filled with thousands of spectators. But for anybody nostalgic, events like Gamers Assembly can bring back some of the old-school joys of playing.

With over 2,000 participants, Gamers Assembly is the biggest LAN party in France. It’s been running for over 20 years and has seen some of the biggest names in the French eSport scene get their start at the event.

There are no requirements for taking part in a tournament – you just need to pay for your spot, between €40 and €60 a pop . Prizes range from a few hundred euros to several thousands. For many young gamers dreaming of going pro, coming here is an opportunity to make a name for themselves and maybe even beat their idols.

Many players travelled to Poitiers by car, coming from all over France, hauling screens and PC towers along with them before setting up their stations on the long rows of plastic desks. During the matches, victory cries punctuated the background hum of chit chat and set the tempo of the long two days of competition. Some players moved in herds, others looked dazed, wandering around in the hopes of bumping into a famous streamer.

Right in the middle of this cheerful chaos, one particular place stood out for its slightly more relaxed atmosphere – the little corner where Damien and his friends had set up shop. The area was reserved for free players, who didn’t follow strict timetables to participate in competitions. They did their own thing.

Right at the back of the red hangar, 20-year-old gamer “BMS” was here for his first time. After two years of playing behind his screen at home, he was ready to take things to the next level, competing alongside his team, Pandore. “There’s something very concrete, almost visceral about being here,” he said, smiling. “Seeing your competitors and being able to talk to them makes you want to beat them even more. If we were playing online, we would have probably already got smoked.”

After eliminating a few high-level teams in the game Rainbow 6 Siege, team Pandore managed to reach the semi-final. It was a close one. Everything hung on the last round. Finally victorious, a Pandore teammate shouted “Get out of here, go home!” to the losing team. “You should have seen the Call of Duty competitions a few years ago,” said Damien, who I bumped into again later. “That was really something. You would have even seen people breaking their desks.”

Charles, 24, had to make sacrifices to come here. When some players on his team found themselves short on cash a few weeks before the competition, he put his own funds into the trip to make it possible – transport, food, accommodation, you name it. “I try not to look at my bank account too much,” he said. “It’s an important tournament, and we made a commitment. For now, it’s cost me over €1,500, but it’s a bit like paying to go to a theme park for the weekend with my family.”

After a few great performances, Charles’s team, Golem, unfortunately ended up surrendering. With crossed arms and long faces, they waited quietly for their opponents to come and congratulate them with a handshake, as per tradition.

A few hours in, I decided to follow the visitors who’d gone out for fresh air. The sun was shining bright and spring was in the air. A few young participants were enjoying mint ice cream on the grass, while others had already switched to beers. Quickly, the scattered crowd started to merge together and head towards the big stage. Someone whispered in my ear that one of the best competitions of the weekend was about to start.

These matches were organised by Silver Geek, an NGO hosting video game competitions between elderly people living in nursing homes across France. It was an unmissable event: the Wii bowling championship. This round, Claudette, AKA “Yellow Chick” was facing off against Michel, a local retiree and fan favourite. These sporty pensioners knew their way around back-to-back strikes. Michel won this round despite some technical difficulties, but ultimately, 66-year-old Jean-Louis took the title.

The stage then opened up to another type of competition: fighting games. For the grand finale of the classic Tekken, 19-year-old prodigy Fuhito went head-to-head with Gen1us, a former pro gamer and TV host. The audience was gripped, reacting to every twist and turn.

“Gamers Assembly was a turning point in my life,” Gen1us told me after his defeat, which he graciously accepted. “It was here that I got started and I come back every year. The competition has got more professional overtime, but I always show up for the good old times. I don’t come for work, or to win money, just to celebrate.”

Outside, night was starting to fall. The most serious players went back to their hotel rooms to get some rest before tomorrow’s competitions. Corentin, 19, couldn’t afford a hotel. He’d been patiently waiting for the gym at the neighbouring school to open its doors for participants, for a fee of €20 for the three nights of the event. He spent months training for his first FIFA tournament, and wanted to be in tip-top shape. At 11PM, the gym finally opened, and he was the first in.

With the competitive players out, I went back to the free-players area. Some had clearly already given it their all, so much so they were sleeping on – or under – their desks. Others had dozed off on their sleeping bags in a corner of the hangar. Meanwhile, their tireless friends were hard at it playing Fall Guys.

But the hangar never truly slept – throughout the night, minor competitions and matches of games like Mario Kart and Just Dance continued to kick off. At some point, even my photographer and I left our kit behind to play a few matches of Worms and Teamfight Tactics.

By then, it was the early hours of the morning, but nothing much had changed in the hangar, except for the faces of the sleepless players. This year, the event was a bit different. It had been cancelled the two previous years due to COVID, but in spite of that fewer participants than usual had turned up, since it was running at the same time as other big eSports competitions around the world.

“It’s a bit of a slow comeback, but I think a lot of players are waiting to see how it goes,” a Gamers Assembly spokesperson said. “We hope it will be even better next year.”

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