Olympic Esports Series

Origins and Olympic Interest

The International Olympic Committee's interest in esports dates back to at least 2007, when esports featured at the Asian Indoor Games. Formal discussions began in earnest with an Olympic Summit in 2017 and an Esports Forum in 2018. However, the IOC faced hurdles in fully embracing esports, citing the lack of a single international governing body and concerns over violence in popular titles like Counter-Strike and League of Legends. This meant esports would not be added to the traditional Olympic Games.

Other major multi-sport events moved faster. The Olympic Council of Asia recognized esports as a medal event, first at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games and then as a full medal sport at the 2022 Asian Games held in 2023. The Southeast Asian Games also included it. As a precursor to its own event, the IOC launched the Olympic Virtual Series in 2021 during the pandemic, featuring virtual baseball, cycling, motorsport, rowing, and sailing. A planned 2022 follow-up was canceled, making way for the more ambitious in-person Olympic Esports Series, which was announced in November 2022.

The Inaugural 2023 Event in Singapore

The first Olympic Esports Series was held as the centerpiece of Olympic Esports Week in Singapore from June, to, , 2023. The event was opened remotely by IOC President Thomas Bach and Singapore's President Halimah Yacob, who was on a state visit to Qatar at the time. Ten sports were contested at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, with each video game title selected and proposed by its corresponding international sports federation in partnership with the game publisher.

The initial nine titles were announced on March 1, 2023. A tenth event in shooting was added on May 5. The final lineup included archery, baseball, chess, cycling, dance, motorsport, sailing, shooting, taekwondo, and tennis. An eleventh event was held completely online. Notably, the shooting event used a custom Fortnite mode where players shot targets instead of each other, a modification made after Epic Games, the publisher, disclaimed any involvement with the Olympic event.

Athletes and Notable Competitors

The Series attracted competitors from the worlds of traditional sport and elite gaming. The taekwondo event featured eight Olympians, including gold trophy winner Wu Jingyu of China, Rohullah Nikpai of Afghanistan, Leonardo Basile of Italy, Aaron Cook who represented Great Britain and Moldova, Carmen Marton of Australia, Yasmina Aziez from France, Hwang Kyung-seon of South Korea, and Nur Tatar of Turkey.

The chess competition was a high-level affair, featuring nine grandmasters and one female International Master. Competitors included Aleksei Sarana, Maksim Chigaev, Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn, Aleksandr Rakhmanov, Oleksandr Bortnyk, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, Bassem Amin, Tin Jingyao, Kevin Goh, and Irene Kharisma Sukandar. This event was historically significant as it was the first IOC-sanctioned event where Russian athletes, Chigaev and Rakhmanov, participated as individual neutral athletes, competing alongside a Ukrainian player, Bortnyk, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In total, 131 finalists competed. The event drew an estimated 20,000 spectators to the venue over its four-day run, which began with an opening ceremony on June 22.

Exhibition Events and Traditional Esports

Alongside the ten official Series events, Olympic Esports Week hosted exhibition matches in more recognized competitive titles, acknowledging the broader esports scene. These included Rocket League, with two show matches: a men's match won by Karmine Corp over Gen.G and a women's match won by Williams Resolve over G2 Luna.

A Street Fighter 6 tournament was held as a four-player double-elimination competition, eventually won by Thailand's Thum Homchuen. The bracket featured Hajime 'Tokido' Taniguchi, considered a legend in the Street Fighter scene. An NBA 2K23 event was held as a single round-robin with no official winner, contested by the national eFIBA teams of the Philippines, Brazil, and Türkiye.

Additional sports-focused exhibitions were the Arena Games Triathlon, held in a duathlon format, and Virtual Table Tennis. These exhibitions served to bridge the gap between the IOC's sports-based approach and the established, publisher-driven esports ecosystem.

Controversy Over Game Selection

The choice of games was the subject of significant and sustained criticism from the esports community, media, and industry figures upon announcement. The initial list of nine titles was described by outlets like Polygon as odd. Only Gran Turismo for motorsport, Just Dance for dance, and Konami's Power Pros baseball game within Japan had significant global or regional recognition.

Many selected games were mobile titles unfamiliar to Western audiences. A digital agency representative told The Guardian the announcement left them feeling disappointed and embarrassed, calling it a marketing vehicle for unlicensed mobile games instead of working with established publishers. On social media, fans described the lineup as out of touch.

The IOC defended its selections, stating they aligned with Olympic Values and were nominated by the sports federations. Some, like British Esports chief executive Chester King, called it a very sensible first approach to gain acceptance from all IOC stakeholders. The later addition of a modified Fortnite mode was mocked by IGN in a video segment as the dumbest Olympic esport.

Further criticism emerged after the event regarding the online qualification process, which was seen as disadvantaging African players. An opinion piece in Kenya's Daily Nation highlighted connectivity and stability issues in Africa that made staying connected to servers a logistical challenge, questioning the IOC's qualification method.

Awards and Format Distinctions

The Olympic Esports Series deliberately differed from the traditional Olympic Games in its awards and its fundamental connection to physical sport. No Olympic medals or diplomas were given. Instead, the top three finishers in each event received gold, silver, and bronze-colored trophies.

The event's structure emphasized a hybrid of physical action in a virtual space and digital simulation. It featured either simulations of athletic performance in virtual worlds, like cycling in Zwift, or sports-based video games like Gran Turismo for motorsport. This focus on sport-linked titles, where the international federation for that sport was involved in selecting the game, was a core part of the IOC's strategy to integrate virtual competition into its existing framework, distinguishing it from commercial esports leagues.

The Path to Olympic Esports Games

The Olympic Esports Series was always viewed as a transitional project. In June 2024, the IOC Executive Board announced it would create a larger, standalone event called the Olympic Esports Games. The proposal was put to a vote at the 142nd IOC Session held during the 2024 Summer Olympics.

In July 2024, it was announced that the inaugural Olympic Esports Games would be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, following a new partnership with the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee. The proposal was ultimately approved by a unanimous vote on July 23, 2024. The new event is slated to be held every two years in the years between the Summer and Winter Olympics, starting in 2027. This marks a new, more permanent and ambitious chapter in the IOC's formal engagement with competitive gaming, replacing the experimental Esports Series.