For the first time, the International Olympic Committee [IOC] has agreed to integrate eSports into its competition with its debut scheduled at an unspecified date later this year.
According to the IOC website, members voted unanimously during the summer Paris Olympics last year to plan the creation of the Olympic eSport Games, sealing an agreement with Saudi Arabia to host the inaugural event this year.
Interest in creating such a venue grew two years ago in 2023 when Singapore hosted the Olympic eSports Week, a non-IOC sanctioned event that featured eleven events and attracted 1.3 billion views.
The Saudi Arabia-hosted competition will consist of eight events, ranging from Chess.com to Just Dance to Virtual Regatta, which were all featured in the Olympic eSports Week Singapore 2023. The winners will be awarded with gold, silver, and bronze-colored trophies instead of traditional medals.
First-person shooter games like Valorant and Overwatch — the ones most Sunny Hills students compete in — did not make the cut, though the school did have a Chess.com team in the past.
The IOC has stood firm on its decision to exclude shooter games.
“Despite criticism over excluding traditional eSports titles deemed ‘too violent’, the IOC also intends to keep first-person shooter games out of the Olympic eSports Series in the future,” IOC’s head of virtual sports and eSports, Vincent Pereira, said, according to Wikipedia. “Despite Fortnite having been included in the 2023 event in a specially modified format with targets, Pereira added the default format of Fortnite involving shooting other characters would not be considered.”
None of those IOC-sanctioned eSports is among the ones that the Lancers compete in, which bars them from being featured internationally for their success.
“This is just a sad excuse to involve eSports in the Olympics because it is all sports-driven, so [the Olympic Committee thinks] ‘Let’s incorporate eSports, this is new, and it’s always on the rise, but we can’t have first-person shooter games because they’re too violent’,” Joyce said.
eSports club co-president senior Miles Holen said these video games may not be as bad as they seem.
“Instead of conflicting with existing eSport leagues or crowding the Olympics with new games, the Olympics is simply giving people a chance to prove that they have the knowledge and skill to perform in these sports,” eSports club co-president, senior Miles Holden said. “But now you don’t have to pay for the same type of expensive equipment, training, gyms, and there is no requirement of physical strength.”
League of Legends team player and eSports club co-president, Senior Olivia Kim, said although she appreciates seeing physical components in Zwift and Just Dance, she doesn’t agree with the IOC’s decision to sanction eSports as part of the Olympics.
“When I heard about the approval of the eSports Olympic Games, I was definitely shocked and kind of disappointed,” Kim said. “It felt surprising to see eSports, which differ so much from traditional sports, being included in an event that traditionally celebrates physical athleticism.”
The senior held a differing view from Joyce about how first-person shooter games such as Valorant and League of Legends should be handled when it comes to the Olympics.
“I think it’s a smart decision to exclude violent games from the list of eligible competitions,” Kim said. “It keeps the focus on games that align better with the Olympic values and appeals to a broader audience, making the event more inclusive and less controversial if it were actually labeled as an Olympic sport.”
Holden said these video games may not be as bad as they seem.
“Instead of conflicting with existing eSport leagues or crowding the Olympics with new games, the Olympics is simply giving people a chance to prove that they have the knowledge and skill to perform in these sports,” Holden said. “But now without the same barrier to entry whether that be financial or physical.”
As of Friday, Jan. 24, neither the IOC nor the Saudi Arabian National Olympic Committee has posted any updates on a specific date, time or location for the eSport Olympic Games. However, students already have made up their opinions on whether or not they will watch the Olympic eSport Games.
“I might watch it because the Olympics is a large event in the world and it’s easy to enjoy, especially watching with other people,” the male co-president said. “Adding eSports into the Olympics would be more for the players rather than the viewers since it offers more accessibility.”
Holden said that the location of the games is not a problem for eSports enthusiasts like himself.
“It doesn’t matter where it is hosted because the whole point of it is so that everyone across the world can join together and unite to participate in it,” he said.
