The International Olympic Committee (IOC) have announced the Olympic Esports Series 2023, which will take place here in Southeast Asia (Singapore) in June.
It is the first esports competition hosted by the IOC, the largest and most prestigious international sports body in the world.
But the community has not been enthused very much, for a variety of reasons.
Disappointing the Esports Community
Having the world-renowned sporting organisation introduce esports should be a big deal, especially for the growth of the sport. But upon deeper inspection, the reality is that this esports competition is like no other.
Take a look at the game line-up for the competition.
- Archery (World Archery Federation, Tic Tac Bow)
- Baseball (World Baseball Softball Confederation, WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS)
- Chess (International Chess Federation, Chess.com)
- Cycling (UCI, Zwift)
- Dance (World DanceSport Federation, JustDance)
- Motor sport (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, Gran Turismo)
- Sailing (World Sailing, Virtual Regatta)
- Taekwondo (World Taekwondo, Virtual Taekwondo)
- Tennis (International Tennis Federation, Tennis Clash)
Raise your hands if you have heard of these games before. Many haven’t. Yet, recognisable titles like Valorant, League of Legends, Dota 2, Overwatch and numerous others are noticeably left out. What makes the situation stranger is that such games are already part of regional games such as the Commonwealth and Southeast Asian (SEA) games. Surely if they are already a part of such games, the next step should be the Olympics?
Two-time paralympic gold medallist and former Valorant professional player, Rowan Crothers, turned to Twitter to share his distaste of the newly-announced competition series.
Not All Bad
But it’s not that bad of a deal. To put it simply, any news is good news.
First, the reality is that the IOC represents sports that are played in real life. Athletics, wrestling, fencing, and weightlifting are staples of the sports and have been around for a long time.
But the history of the modern Olympics can be traced back to the 1896 Summer Games, held in Athens. Back then, there were just 43 competitors in nine sports. Football, tennis, and even archery were not part of the games.
Over time, we saw the gradual introduction of games we now love as part of the Olympic movement such as swimming, football, tennis and boxing.
IOC is venturing into esports at a time where esports is rapidly growing around the world. And while they are keen to get into it, given their status and size, it’s hardly surprising that they should take baby steps by first going into sports they already know. The apps cited by IOC also happen to be members of IOC, so it makes sense to move onto that first.
There are also probably commercial reasons for choosing these sports and apps, rather than the ones that are already popular. In esports, companies such as Valve and Tencent hold all the rights to distribution. It’s not easy for the Olympic movement to share the same stage as these software companies, given that the Olympics is the biggest event of the sporting calendar with billions of dollars on the line.
Will they eventually include Dota 2 in their line up? We hope to see the day where we can watch the best of Indonesia versus the best of China as they battle for Roshan on a global stage.
But this doesn’t mean that it is a setback for the esports we love. Any move to get the wider public to acknowledge that esports is a legitimate sporting activity should be welcomed with wide open arms.
For too long, many people have dismissed esports as just ‘playing games’. From our coverage of events, teams and players, we know this is completely untrue. Just ask Ghirlanda about the sacrifices he made to fight in the Tekken world, or OhMyVenus on what he had to endure.
The sweat and blood is real. And for the Olympics to start acknowledging that playing sports – in the flesh or on the screen – requires intense effort is a big plus for the growth of the sport in general.
At the end of the day, esports will never be defined by just one thing. The beauty of it is in its variety. Some might love Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, others Dota 2. Some like Clash Royale, others online chess. The Olympic Esports Series pushes esports in the right direction, and we need more of that, not less.
Yes, the game line-up is odd and the community has a right to be upset. But we should also see it as a step in the right direction.
It’s time to cheer the growth of esports, whatever form that may take.
