Ici Japon Corp Esports has made a sensational debut on the French League of Legends scene. For its very first split in LFL Division 2, the structure run by Benoît "Tev" Theveny (President) and Emile "rares" Delamarche-Gilles (CEO) took the title at the 2024 spring split. A few hours before the team returns to the arena to compete in the summer split, we take a look with Tev at why he decided to try his hand at esport. An interview conducted during a VP organised by Ici Japon Corp and Ubigi.

Who are you, and what is the Ici Japon Corp Esports project?

Benoît « Tev » Theveny : "I'm primarily known as a content creator. Initially, I'm more of an entrepreneur, and I consider YouTube as one of my businesses. It has become the means to communicate about my ventures. I manage several projects in Japan and France : in Japan, we are known for online stores, originally Candysan, but we have developed other stores now, we also have a hotel... In France, we have several projects, including a video game museum and the Esport project.

I'm passionate about entrepreneurship. I don't really set rules : I only invest in projects that truly please me. For me, all work must be associated with a sense of enjoyment and fulfillment. I can afford the luxury of choosing the projects I invest in. It's not necessarily financial, it can simply be out of passion. That's how we ended up with the esports project. I haven't had much time to play, but I follow the esports scene and still play video games. When I was given the opportunity to make gaming my work, I didn't hesitate long before diving in.

How did you seize the opportunity to venture into esports? Was it solely out of passion?

Tev : There are two things First, it's not expected for someone not deeply involved in esports to venture into it. Whenever I start something, I know nothing about it. I'm currently opening hotels in Japan without prior knowledge. You learn on the go. You just need to have a desire and then fully commit to it. If you wait to become an expert, you'll never start.

The thing is, even though I'm not known for esports, we've been interested in it for a few years. My team and I, in Japan, have been sponsors for several events like ZEvent and ZLan. During a ZLan, we participated with Ascent, a newly created organization. We performed well together, and more importantly, we got along naturally. We had the desire to enter the scene and already had an audience. We could attract sponsors. We combined our strengths, two completely complementary skills, to try to create the best structure possible together. From the start, we said to ourselves that we could be very ambitious, and it's working out pretty well.

What is your experience with League of Legends and esports in this particular game?

Tev : I was somewhat familiar because there are avid players on my team. Personally, I always refrain from playing a game when I feel I could really get into it and spend a lot of time on it. For example, games like World of Warcraft, I absolutely can't touch. I've always been told that if you start playing League of Legends, you can't stop. So, I've always refrained from playing it.

Now I'm getting into it because I have to understand the mechanics. It's a game that gives me as much pleasure as frustration because I feel like exploding everything around me when I lose. I didn't know much more than that. I've played many games, and if you had asked me which game I wanted to get into, I would have said Counter Strike, even though it's very difficult. But watching LoL is incredible. It provides unique sensations, especially in public.

Do you have the ambition to integrate Japanese players into your team, especially on League of Legends?

Tev : I don't know about League of Legends. There are good players in Japan, even though it has a bad reputation. For now, we are more focused on Europe for technical reasons. We want the players to be together as much as possible, to understand each other, and to have real team cohesion. It could happen on other games. We seriously consider it. It's totally part of the channel's DNA.

How do you see the future of esports, especially in terms of profitability and the sustainability of teams?

Tev : Yes, that's a crucial question. Financing a team is really difficult. I really see it as a business. I approach it pragmatically, thinking that we need to find sponsors, organize events. What I realized is that pretty quickly, even though we've just arrived, we managed to structure ourselves very well.

I think most teams are very good teams, very good clubs, but bad businesses. I see a lot of opportunities around esports. It has existed for a few years, but it's still in its infancy. We have many sponsors for a young team, and we are starting to organize events. It's because other teams don't know how to do it or don't have the ability to do it. We really see a place to take.

Financing is difficult for many teams, but it's going well for us. It was a concern at the beginning, but not anymore. When you're serious and have a good image, it works very well."