The 142nd International Olympic Committee session unanimously voted today for the creation of the Olympic Esports Games, with the first event set to take place next year in Saudi Arabia.
As fans around the world get ready to tune in for the 2024 Olympic Games to watch events like swimming, beach volleyball, and gymnastics, the future is now set for viewers to eventually tune into video games on the world stage.
While esports fans seem largely indifferent to the news, the future implications could be big when it comes to the future of the industry and how it could impact the growth of competitive gaming on a larger level, according to Gen.G CEO Arnold Hur.
“This may not matter much to the average esports fan, but this has huge implications for government and educational support for esports at all levels,” Hur said. “Whether it’s renting a venue for a match in Seoul or receiving course credit for an esports/gaming industry course this is big.”
While the Olympics won’t include shooter games, such as popular esports titles like Counter-Strike 2 or Call of Duty, the likely list includes titles like “LoL, Rocket League, Street Fighter, Tekken, iRacing, NBA2K, FIFA, and mobile games,” according to esports insider Rod “Slasher” Breslau.
“This is truly a new era for the IOC,” said IOC president Thomas Bach. “With the confirmation by the IOC Session of the creation of the Olympic Esports Games, we are keeping up with the pace of the digital revolution. The esports community, represented in our Esports Commission, has enthusiastically engaged with this initiative. This is further proof of the attractivity of the Olympic brand and the values it stands for among young people.”
Last year, the Olympic games hosted the Olympic Esports Series for the first time, with certain esports tailored toward real-life counterparts. For shooting, gamers played Fortnite, Tennis Clash for tennis, Just Dance for dance, and so on.
