The small Middle Eastern country’s poor infrastructure in telecom and electricity makes it very hard (and expensive) for someone to purse their passion in gaming. While telecom companies have been offering more high-speed internet options, the prices of such packages are substantially high and they do not offer unlimited internet packages, making it even less convenient for the Lebanese consumer.
Government provided electricity functioning only six hours a day, people resort to using their own generators during that time. Motors also have a tendency of cutting off when the loads are high, which means that often gamers lose their electricity mid game, which gives them a significant disadvantage. Some Dota 2 players even faced temporary bans because of such issues. These massive technical inconveniences would grind the gears of any gamer, add to them societal pressure with parents not understanding the concept of gaming, and many Lebanese players give up and look for something else. A ray of hope arose when local entrepreneurs saw this need as an opportunity and internet gaming cafés became a common site in Beirut, especially in areas near Universities that young adults are more likely to be around.
These centers offer high speed internet and electric generators which guarantee the gamers a significantly smoother experience than if they were to play at home. With the success of these centers, they began improving their facilities, upgrading their computers from standard PC’s to top of the line gaming PC’s, keyboards, mouses, mics, etc and expanding their area to fit in more computers to adapt to the higher demand. Some of these centers, such as Wired gaming, even expanded their business by opening multiple branches in the city. With the online gaming industry growing rapidly both globally and in the Middle East, this increased interest in professional gaming provided an opportunity to host in the future more competitive gaming platforms in the country.
With the success of their tournaments, gaming centers such as Ground Zero, Wired Gaming, Spotnet, and most recent GGWP followed suit, with plans of hosting future events offering cash prizes that are going to rise every month. Wired gaming and Spotnet started hosting years ago tournaments such as spotnet tour and Wired-gaming tour that featured big teams like Wired-Gaming lead by Gh, The old FM that was lead by the famous Babarrrrrr, Spotnet team, and many newcomer teams from the new generation of lebanese Dota 2 players most who have already hit the 5k mmr and more. The localy known and praised Dota 2 player FM.Snoop said during the Wired-Gaming Tour, "I may be 27 years old now, but i dont think age will stop me because Dota 2 is not just a game, its the community that brought me my life time friends, my best life experiences, and it's surely one of the most stratigic and mind consuming sports in my opinion." Although Wired-gaming tour and Spotnet tour have been won by their own teams, these Local tournaments are treated more like a friendly practice session by most new teams where new competitive players get the chance to meet and get mentored by old and experienced players. Most of the new generation of lebanese Dota 2 players aim for international tournaments, with such significantly improving conditions for Lebanese gamers, and the huge success from recent tournaments, gamers are starting to take Dota 2 more then just ‘hobby’.
Many Lebanese gamers started making their passion a fulltime job. Maroun 'Gh' Mehrej is one of the most known locals to have achieved that. He started by competing in local Dota 2 tournaments (winning $1,500 with Wired Gaming and $2,000 with Multizone Tour) before setting his eyes on international competitions. He had a rocky start with Wired Gaming, after qualifying to offline finals of MSI Beat IT 2014 in Taipei, he lost to his competitors Rave and Natus Vincere NA and ended in 5th to 8th place. When competing with E-LAB, they attempted the TI 6 European Open qualifier but were not able to make it all the way as they landed himself in 2nd place losing to Fantastic Five. As his experience grew he was able to hit the 9kmmr mark on his Dotabuff Profile which caught the eye of Team Liquid, towards the end of 2016 year. As a stand for Liquid he won his first LAN trophy, the team they defeated Escape Gaming DreamLeague Season 6. Now he's the first Lebanese player to be invited at a Valve event, as Team liquid just received their direct invite to the Kiev Major. Proving himself as one of the best players in Lebanon; GH was able to use his local fame to work in the local gaming scene by doing promotions and hosting tours, and as such inspiring the younger generation of Dota 2 players.
Many Dota 2 teams are following in GH’s footsteps and aspiring to become internationally recognized full time professionals, with team Spotnet, and Team WiredGaming being the ones to watch at present. These teams have created a gaming subculture within Lebanese society. There is a sense of comradery between gamers despite the intense competition. Team members have been able to meet through their passion for gaming and become very close friends despite often coming from different cultural backgrounds.
This phenomenon is significant in the Lebanese society, with sectarianism often governing who people choose to interact with. Players in Lebanon have been able to create a family based on values of openness and competition, with the older generation of gamers mentoring the newcomers in hopes of making Lebanon a force to be reckoned with in gaming.
