The International Olympic Committee or IOC has recently announced plans to create the Olympic Esports Games. This announcement was made during the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai, India. This project will be headed by the IOC Esports Commission which was formed earlier this year.
President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach revealed that the IOC Esports Commission has been asked to study the creation of an Olympic Esports Games. He highlighted the younger generation who are specifically interested in esports, pointing out that many of them are under the age of 34. “The younger generation has a completely new way of thinking,” Bach said. “They are living digital lives right now. We must not ignore their thinking if we do not want to jeopardize our own future. We must empower them to guide us with their young mindset.”
It is also clear that with the adoption and embracing of Esports into the Olympic fold, the IOC will still not compromise on the values and prestige that the Olympics has worked very long and hard to establish. Bach spoke of a “red line that we will not cross” when it comes to which esports titles might be included in the Olympic Esports Games. He cited Fortnite as an example of a game publisher making changes to “conform fully with our Olympic values.” This comes after the addition of Fortnite to the Olympic Esports Series 2023 hosted by the International Shooting Sport Federation, the Olympic governing body for shooting events.
This is the culmination of plans and events that have been occurring all year. You might remember the inaugural Olympic Esports Series held in June of 2023. It was an esports event held by the IOC which hosted nine games that all focused on sports simulation games like cycling, motorsport, tennis, taekwondo, etc. Even if the OEC did not host any “traditional” esports titles, Bach still considered the series a success, citing its over 500,000 participants and more than 6m views, a majority of which were from viewers between the ages of 13 and 34. “This was a promising start. But it is just that: a start. It is like in any sport: after even a promising start, the real race still lies ahead.”
The date and format of the Olympic Esports Games were not mentioned, alluding to these plans still being in their infancy but regardless, this is still a huge step forward for Esports as a whole and its legitimacy in the eyes of the rest of the world.
The IOC Esports Commission is comprised of respected and experienced individuals from many varied backgrounds in esports, sports, and even government. This includes G2 Esports CEO Alban Dechelotte, Ubisoft’s Senior Director of Global Competitive Gaming Zeynep Gencaga, The CEO and Secretary General of Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee Abdulaziz Baeshen, and Olympic medalist BMX racer Sarah Walker among many others. With this skilled and varied lineup, hopes are high that esports will get its day in the sun as an Olympic event with some of its most iconic titles like Counter-Strike, League of Legends, and Valorant.
The Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF) professed their support for the IOC's plans. The AESF cited the adaptations made by the publishers of Arena of Valor and PUBG Mobile for the esports events of the 19th Asian Games as evidence that further collaboration between developers and esports committees can be done.
During those Asian Games, popular esports titles like League of Legends and Dota 2 were adopted as medal events. Hopefully, this encourages the IOC to allow more esports titles as Olympic sports.
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