Will eSports athletes soon be in the Olympic medal hunt? The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, is pursuing the idea of integrating eSports into the competition. A committee is to examine this.
2018 IOC President Thomas Bach still ruled out video games at the Olympic Games. In the near future, the about-face could finally be complete. The 69-year-old had asked the commission of the International Olympic Committee responsible for eSports to examine the possibility of an Olympics for this sector. Bach said this at the opening of the 141st IOC session in Mumbai.
Of the world’s three billion gamers, more than 500 million are primarily interested in eSports, the IOC president said. Including eSports in the Olympic Games is the way to continue to be successful in the race to target gamers and eSports enthusiasts, the IOC President said. After all, “the majority of them are under 34 years old”.
Olympic Esports Week: A “promising start “
The IOC already made an approach to eSports in 2021 when the Olympic Virtual Series was launched. This was continued in 2023 with the Olympic Esport Week. Although this was a “promising start”, Bach said, the real race was still ahead of the IOC.
The 69-year-old left open the extent to which eSports would be included in the Olympic Games. It is unlikely, however, that popular titles such as Fortnite or Counter-Strike will be selected. After all, shooters were a major part of the argument at the time as to why eSports and video games did not fit in with the Olympics. Games of this kind were also not included in the previously mentioned spin-offs. In general, there was a lot of criticism about the selection of disciplines for the Olymic Esport Week.
But not only the announced games are open, it is also still unclear whether and, if so, at which Olympics the starting signal could be given. Or whether the Olympic Games in eSports will be held independently. The next Summer Games will be held in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. A short-term inclusion seems out of the question. In 2028, the Summer Olympics after next will take place in Los Angeles. Possibly with medal awards in eSports.