Swedish politicians battle it out in a StarCraft competition

Not all politicians hold a grudge against video games. Last Sunday, a number of Swedish politicians participated in a StarCraft II tournament called Politikerstarcraft. Creator Jonathan Rieder Lundkvist told The Daily Dot the objective of the event was to “increase awareness of e-sports in politics, and of politics among gamers.” Interestingly, Lundkvist made it a point to pit representatives with opposing ideologies against one another in the first round. 

In Sweden, politicians are learning to settle their differences the civilized way: with video games. This Sunday—just in time for Sweden’s 2014 elections—a group of politicians will battle to determine which party boasts the best StarCraft player in Sweden. The tournament, called Politikerstarcraft, is nominally just for bragging rights. But don’t let that fool you. Last tournament’s champion, Mathias Sundin, a parliament reserve for Folkpartiet and a leading politician in the city of Norrköping, saw his party carry the ensuing election. The event is the brainchild of one Jonathan Rieder Lundkvist, who conceived of the idea in 2010 as a way to increase awareness of esports in politics, and of politics among gamers. At the time Lundkvist was a member of the Pirate Party, a relatively new political entity formed in 2006 that focuses on issues like copyright and patent reform, internet censorship, and net neutrality.