The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced recently that it will explore plans for an Olympic Esports Games. This announcement was made by the IOC President, Thomas Bach at the opening ceremony of the 141st IOC session in Mumbai, India. Thomas Bach revealed that he had already tasked the new IOC Esports Commission to study the creation of the Olympic Esports Games.
Since 2018, the IOC has been involved in esports after the launch of the Esports forum in Lausanne and an Olympic Virtual Series in 2021. The latest from them was the launch of the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore this year.
The Singapore Olympic Esports Week was successful for the IOC as it attracted over 6 million views and over 500,000 unique participants with 75 percent of the views coming from persons aged 13 to 34. Moroever, over 130 players from different countries competed in 10 categories.
Thomas Bach noted that “there are over 3 billion people playing esports and gaming around the world” and they want to take things further.
A big opportunity for esports players around the world
Esports has already been a medal event at the Asian Games since 2018, and the possibility of winning an Olympic medal is an exciting one for many players. An Olympic esports event could offer esports players worldwide significant benefits, including enhanced recognition, increased financial opportunities, global exposure, and the promotion of professionalism within the industry.
However, given the non-selection of traditional esports titles like Counter-Strike, Dota, and League of Legends in the Singapore Olympic Esports Week, it is highly unlikely that players in these games will benefit when the Olympic Esports Games are launched.
