The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has unanimously resolved to approve the Olympic Esports Games, marking a huge step forward for the international sports body.
The Olympic Esports Games are set for 2025, with the event organized by the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Saudi Arabia and also held in the Kingdom.
“This is truly a new era for the IOC. 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”, said Thomas Bach, IOC President.
“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. The NOC of Saudi Arabia will bring great – if not unique – experience in the field of esports to this project. This partnership is based on the Olympic Charter and the Olympic values”, he says,
The IOC Website says that the Olympic Esports Games will be run separately from the main Olympic Games, with a different ‘organizational and financial model’ from the Olympic Games.
The Road To The Olympic Esports Games
This is a moment that the IOC has been building towards for some years- though met with some resistance from anti-esports stalwarts, the IOC has been mulling the idea of having an official esports event.
It’s culminated in the Olympic Esports Week held in Singapore in 2023.
Saudi Arabia has taken a particular interest in the gaming and entertainment spheres in recent years- from establishing the Esports World Cup this year to having entities like Qiddiya Gaming being a sponsor for major events like EVO 2024 and EVO Japan 2024.
It makes sense that the Olympics would want to get in on the esports train- philosophical debates about the nature of sports aside, events like EVO garner massive viewership and buzz, and they continue to with or without the IOC’s involvement.
That is to say, if people are looking to consume this content, the IOC believes it may as well be from them.
That being said, a lot of the event’s hurdles would also come down to which games are selected for their line-up: esports itself is a broad umbrella stretching from team sports like Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant to more singular games like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8.
