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Olympic Esports Series

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The Olympic Esports Series[a] is an Olympic Games-style esports event, planned to be held annually,[2] featuring multiple different virtual sports and video games coming together in a single location similar to a multi-sport event, run by the International Olympic Committee.

While esports and competitive video gaming have traditionally not been considered a sport, the Olympic Movement began taking an interest as early as 2007, when esports was included at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games. The conversation surrounding International Olympic Committee and esports did not really take off until around 2017, when an Olympic Summit was held on the issue. After an online-only Olympic Virtual Series was held during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 in five sports, the IOC eventually announced the creation of the Olympic Esports Series, as part of the Olympic Esports Week, in November 2022. The inaugural edition was held in Singapore in June 2023, with a second edition planned for 2024.[2]

The events at the Olympic Esports Series have a connection with traditional Olympic sports, as the video game titles selected are chosen by international federations. There is a mix of both physical sport taking place in a virtual world, such as in Zwift, as well as sports-based video games such as Gran Turismo. The lack of traditional esports titles at the Olympic Esports Series, and the inclusion of lesser-known games representing traditional Olympic sports, has been the subject of criticism.

Unlike at the Olympic Games, medals and diplomas are not awarded at the Olympic Esports Series. The top three in each event are awarded gold-, silver-, and bronze-coloured trophies instead of medals.[3]

Background

Main article: Esports § Olympic Games recognition

Traditional esports titles such as Counter-Strike, Dota, League of Legends, and Valorant have been considered to be too violent for inclusion in an Olympic-style esports competition.[4] An Olympic Summit was held in October 2017 to consider the possible adoption of esports by the Olympic Movement,[5] with a further IOC Esports Forum held in July 2018.[6] However, the lack of a single international federation to govern esports, a requirement for a sport to be recognised as an Olympic sport, along with the issue of violence in games, meant the IOC would not consider adding esports to the Olympic Games.[7]

Other sporting events, such as the Asian Games held by the Olympic Council of Asia and the Southeast Asian Games, recognise esports as a medal event. It was first added to a major Games at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games, and will become a full medal event of the Asian Games starting with the 2022 Asian Games held in 2023.[8]

After to the COVID-19 pandemic led to the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics to 2021, the inaugural IOC-backed esports event, known as the Olympic Virtual Series, was announced for 2021.[9] Sports included in that were baseball, cycling, motorsport, rowing, and sailing[10] – four of which would return as part of the Olympic Esports Series in 2023.

A second Olympic Virtual Series was planned for 2022,[11] but did not take place, instead being replaced by the Olympic Esports Series.

2023 Olympic Esports Week

2023 Olympic Esports Week
Host citySingapore, Singapore
MottoPlay Beyond Possible
OrganisersInternational Olympic Committee, Singapore National Olympic Council
Edition1st
Athletes131[12] from 57 nations[b]
Events10[b] in 10 sports, plus 6 exhibition events across 5 video game titles
OpeningJune 22, 2023 (2023-06-22)
ClosingJune 25, 2023 (2023-06-25)
Opened byPresident of Singapore Halimah Yacob
Main venueSuntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre
Websiteolympics.com/en/esports/olympic-esports-series/

In November 2022, the IOC announced the inaugural Olympic Esports Week would be held in Singapore in June 2023, to include the in-person live finals of the 2023 Olympic Esports Series.[14] The initial nine game titles and sports were announced on 1 March 2023,[15] with a 10th event in shooting (Fortnite) added on 5 May.[16]

The first Olympic Esports Series finals were held in person from 23–25 June 2023 in Singapore at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, as part of the inaugural Olympic Esports Week, which began a day earlier on 22 June with an opening ceremony.[17]

At the opening ceremony, both IOC president Thomas Bach and the President of Singapore, Halimah Yacob, appeared virtually by hologram,[12] with Yacob – who was actually on a state visit to Qatar[18] – declaring the Olympic Esports Week open in her virtual speech.[19]

Some 131 finalists[12] took part in the Olympic Esports Week, which comprised of 10 events in 10 Olympic sports, while trophies were also awarded in an 11th event which had been held completely online.[13] The sports involved were archery, baseball, chess, cycling, dance, motorsport, sailing, shooting, taekwondo, and tennis. The game chosen for each sport was put forward by each international sports federation in conjunction with the game's publisher, except for Fortnite in shooting where Epic Games disclaimed any involvement.[16]

Eight Olympians competed in the taekwondo event: Wu Jingyu from China, who ended up winning bronze; Rohullah Nikpai of Afghanistan; Leonardo Basile (Italy); Aaron Cook (Great Britain and Moldova); Carmen Marton of Australia; Yasmina Aziez from France; Hwang Kyung-seon of South Korea; and Nur Tatar of Türkiye.[20]

Additionally, the chess event featured nine grandmasters and one female International Master: Aleksei Sarana, Maksim Chigaev, Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn, Aleksandr Rakhmanov, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, Bassem Amin, Tin Jingyao, Kevin Goh, and Irene Kharisma Sukandar.[21] This was the first IOC-sanctioned event at which Russian athletes – Chigaev and Rakhmanov – took part as "individual neutral athletes" (or AIN, from the French "athlètes individuels neutres"), as well as competing alongside a Ukrainian – Bortnyk,[22] following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee from the IOC.

The event reportedly drew 20,000 spectators to the Suntec Convention Centre over the four days.[2]

Events and trophy winners

Source: [23]

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Archery
Tic Tac Bow 		Jared Montgomery
 United States 		David Chan
 United States 		Kyosuke Takebayashi
 Japan
Baseball[24]
WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS 		Shoma Mori
 Japan 		Hiroki Horiike
 Japan 		Wang Chia-Ming
 Chinese Taipei
Chess[25]
Chess.com 		Aleksei Sarana
 Serbia 		Maksim Chigaev
Individual neutral athlete 		Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn
 Vietnam
Cycling
Zwift 		Team Fuego
 Martin Maertens (GER)
 James Barnes (RSA)
 Lou Bates (GBR)
 Marlene Bjärehed (SWE) 		Team Epic
 Ben Hill (AUS)
 Michał Kamiński (POL)
 Jacquie Godbe (USA)
 Charlotte Colclough (GBR) 		Team Lava
 Teppo Laurio (FIN)
 Lionel Vujasin (BEL)
 Alice Lethbridge (GBR)
 Kong Lam (HKG)
Dance[26]
Just Dance 		Dina Amandine Morisset
 France 		Joseph Cordero
 United States 		Antonino Pomilia
 Italy
Motorsport[27]
Gran Turismo 7 		Kylian Drumont
 France 		William Murdoch
 Great Britain 		Angel Inostroza
 Chile
Sailing inshore[13]
Virtual Regatta 		Tim Carpentier
 France 		Cavan Fyans
 Great Britain 		Francisco Melo
 Portugal
Sailing offshore[c][13]
Virtual Regatta 		Baptiste Renaut
 France 		Xavier Coquard
 France 		Aurélie Martin
 France
Shooting[25][28]
Fortnite[d] 		Lucas Malissa
 Australia 		Alexander Feyzjou
 United States 		Andrej Piratov
 Latvia
Taekwondo[30]
Virtual Taekwondo 		Nigel Tan
 Singapore 		Natalie Tor
 Singapore 		Wu Jingyu
 China
Tennis[25]
Tennis Clash 		Anass Benghazi
 France 		He Shenghao
 China 		William Foster
 Great Britain

Exhibition events

As well as the 10 events forming the 2023 Olympic Esports Series, the 2023 Olympic Esports Week also included exhibition events in more traditional esports titles such as Rocket League, Street Fighter 6, and NBA 2K23,[31] as well as the sports-focused Arena Games Triathlon in a duathlon format as well as Virtual Table Tennis.

The Rocket League category featured two events: a men's show match between Karmine Corp and Gen.G and won by Karmine Corp, and a women's show match between G2 Luna and Williams Resolve, won by Resolve. Street Fighter 6 was held as a four-player double-elimination tournament, and eventually won by Thailand's Thum Homchuen.[32] That tournament also featured Hajime Taniguchi, aka Tokido, considered a legend in the Street Fighter esports scene.[33] NBA 2K23 was held as a single round-robin event with no official winner, and was contested by the national eFIBA teams of Philippines, Brazil, and Türkiye.[33]

Criticism

The primary criticism when the Olympic Esports Series was announced was the IOC's choice of game titles,[34][35] with only Gran Turismo and Just Dance having significant global recognition and Power Pros within Japan. The list of nine initial titles was described by Polygon as "odd", although the IOC's explanation was that the games chosen aligned with the Olympic Values and were proposed by international sports governing bodies.[36]

Many involved with esports were unhappy with the game list, with the Guardian quoting a digital agency representative as saying: "Last week’s announcement left us feeling disappointed and, honestly, a little embarrassed. Instead of working with existing game publishers or well-established tournaments, it seems that the Olympic committee has instead decided to use this event as a marketing vehicle for brand-new, poorly thought out, unlicensed mobile games."[37] Gaming and esports website Dexerto reported on the online reaction, which saw esports fans responding negatively to the IOC's announcement on Twitter, describing the list of games as an "out-of-touch lineup".[38] Some of the criticism, from Western fans, was also directed at the fact that many of the games selected were mobile titles.[34]

However, there was some acceptance from the esports community over the IOC's reasoning for its game selection, including from Global Esports Federation vice-president Chester King, the chief executive of British Esports, who called it "a very sensible first approach" because "we've got to make sure all the stakeholders in the IOC accept it and like it".[35]

Additional criticism came after Fortnite was added to the game list for 2023, as the normal battle royale mode – featuring shooting at other characters – removed in favour of a specially created format in which players would shoot targets instead.[39] In a video segment, IGN called it "the dumbest Olympic esport".[40]

After the conclusion of the first event, the lack of participation from African players was criticised, with an opinion piece in Kenya's Daily Nation questioning the decision of the IOC to use online qualifiers for the Olympic Esports Series, due to connectivity and stablity issues in Africa which make staying connected to servers a "logistical challenge".[41]

Future

Following the conclusion of the inaugural event in Singapore, the IOC's head of virtual sports and esports Vincent Pereira said that Paris, as the host city of the 2024 Summer Olympics, had priority to host an edition of the Olympic Esports Series in 2024 if it wished, but that interest had also been received from Singapore to repeat as hosts as well as from Seoul, South Korea; Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates; New York City; and Shenzhen, China.[42]

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, according to Pereira. 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.[31]

Future game additions could include Rocket League, the Street Fighter series, and the NBA 2K series, which all featured as exhibition events in 2023.[31]

However, the inclusion of esports as a sport at the main Olympic Games is not likely in the immediate future,[35] despite it having medal status at the Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games, as well as various esports World Championships being held for traditional sports, such as the Esailing World Championship, with the IOC's Pereira saying "they're two different worlds".[3]

Notes

  1. ^ While French is the second official language of the Olympic Movement, the name of the Olympic Esports Series is not translated in French.[1]
  2. ^ a b A sailing offshore event, considered part of the 2023 Olympic Esports Series, was held entirely online with no in-person finals,[13] and was open to players worldwide. This offshore event is not counted.
  3. ^ Was not held as part of the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore, although the trophies were awarded in-person.
  4. ^ Styled as the "ISSF Challenge featuring Fortnite", as Epic Games disclaimed involvement with the event.[29]

References

  1. ^ "Le CIO annonce les Olympic Esports Series 2023 - les vainqueurs seront désignés à l'issue des finales qui se dérouleront en direct à Singapour du 22 au 25 juin" (Press release) (in French). International Olympic Committee. 1 March 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Lloyd, Owen (10 July 2023). "Discussions underway for Paris to host next Olympic Esports Week in 2024 while other cities express interest". Inside the Games. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Gamers meet Games in inaugural Olympic Esports Week". CNN.com. Reuters. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  4. ^ Good, Owen (30 August 2017). "If esports come to the Olympics, don't expect to see 'violent' titles". Polygon. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  5. ^ Grohmann, Karolos (28 October 2017). "E-sports just got closer to being part of the Olympics". Business Insider. Reuters. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Olympic Movement, esports and gaming communities meet at the Esports Forum". International Olympic Committee. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  7. ^ Leng, Sidney (28 August 2017). "Violent video games have 'no place at the Olympics', but e-sports are still in the running". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  8. ^ Myers, Maddy (18 April 2017). "Esports Will Become A Medal Event At The 2022 Asian Games". Kotaku. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  9. ^ Bieler, Des (22 April 2021). "IOC announces inaugural slate of Olympic-licensed esports events". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  10. ^ "IOC makes landmark move into virtual sports by announcing first-ever Olympic Virtual Series" (Press release). International Olympic Committee. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  11. ^ "IOC's Olympic Virtual Series to return in 2022". Sports Pro. 13 December 2021.
  12. ^ a b c "IOC's inaugural Olympic Esports Week begins with dazzling Opening Ceremony in Singapore" (Press release). International Olympic Committee. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  13. ^ a b c d Goh, ZK (23 June 2023). "Olympic Esports Series 2023: Tim "UOL Pepitõ" Carpentier wins Virtual Regatta inshore sailing event". olympics.com. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  14. ^ "IOC confirms Singapore as host of first Olympic Esports Week in June 2023". International Olympic Committee. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  15. ^ "IOC announces Olympic Esports Series 2023 with winners to be crowned at live finals in Singapore from 22 to 25 June" (Press release). International Olympic Committee. 1 March 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  16. ^ a b Olympics.com (5 May 2023). "Sport shooting competition created in Fortnite added to Olympic Esports Series 2023". Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  17. ^ Kwek, Kimberly (21 June 2023). "Athletes gear up for the inaugural Olympic Esports Week in Singapore". The Straits Times. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  18. ^ "State Visit by President Halimah Yacob to the State of Qatar, 19 to 22 June 2023" (Press release). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Singapore). 19 June 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  19. ^ Kwek, Kimberly (22 June 2023). "Inaugural Olympic Esports Week declared open". The Straits Times. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  20. ^ Olympics.com (22 June 2023). "Olympic Esports Finals 2023: Virtual Taekwondo competitors confirmed". Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  21. ^ Olympics.com. "Chess.com — Olympic Esports Series". Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  22. ^ "Q&A regarding the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport in international competitions". International Olympic Committee. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023. The IOC is also pleased by the success of the inaugural Olympic Esports Week that took place in Singapore, where the IOC recommendations were strictly applied, which enabled players from Ukraine and players with a Russian passport to compete peacefully together.
  23. ^ "Olympic Esports Week". Olympics.com. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  24. ^ Konami Digital Entertainment (26 June 2023). "Shoma Mori (SHORA) from Japan Crowned Olympic Esports Series 2023 WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS Winner" (Press release). Konami. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  25. ^ a b c Berkeley, Geoff (24 June 2023). "Sarana claims Olympic Esports Series chess crown after leaving Russia for Serbia". Inside the Games. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  26. ^ Guevara, Renzo (26 June 2023). "Just Dance Olympic Esports Week 2023 Results: France wins it all". UnGeek. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  27. ^ Evans, Andrew (25 June 2023). "Kylian Drumont Takes Gran Turismo 7 Olympic Esports Title". gtplanet.net. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  28. ^ Smith, David (27 June 2023). "Aussie Fortnite Star Wins Big At The Singapore Olympic Esports Finals". Kotaku Australia. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  29. ^ Olympics.com (22 June 2023). "Olympic Esports Finals 2023: ISSF Challenge featuring Fortnite finalists confirmed". Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  30. ^ "Singaporean wins taekwondo event on final day of inaugural Olympic Esports Week". Channel News Asia. 26 June 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  31. ^ a b c Ghifari, Deni (1 July 2023). "'Counter Strike', 'Call of Duty' will never enter Olympic Esports, IOC says". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  32. ^ Dot Esports (27 June 2023). "Olympic Esports Series 2023: All scores and results". Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  33. ^ a b Olympics.com (22 June 2023). "What you need to know about exhibition show matches at the Olympic Esports Week 2023". Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  34. ^ a b Lee, Alexander (7 March 2023). "Why the esports industry is up in arms about the Olympic Esports Series". Digiday. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  35. ^ a b c Mackay, Duncan (29 June 2023). "Duncan Mackay: IOC thinks it's embracing esports, but the esports community isn't embracing the IOC". Inside the Games. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  36. ^ Welsh, Oli (19 March 2023). "We asked the Olympics why their official esports are so weird". Polygon. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  37. ^ MacDonald, Keza (8 March 2023). "Pushing Buttons: Is the Olympics getting video games all wrong?". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  38. ^ McLaughlin, Declan (1 March 2023). "Olympics criticized over choice of games for 'Olympic Esports Series'". Dexerto. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  39. ^ Wilde, Tyler (6 May 2023). "Olympic esports tournament adds Fortnite, but not any Fortnite mode you've seen before". PC Gamer. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  40. ^ Non-Violent Fortnite Is Now the Dumbest Olympic eSport - IGN Daily Fix. IGN. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023 – via YouTube.
  41. ^ Lusigi, Ronny (29 June 2023). "Olympic Esports Week: Where was Africa?". Daily Nation. Retrieved 16 July 2023. Were the IOC and the respective International Federations aware of the logistical challenges of servers when they put out a blanket online qualifiers as the criteria of selecting the top gamers?
  42. ^ Arrivé, Paul (8 July 2023). "Esport : le CIO dresse le bilan de son Olympic Esports Week" (in French). L'Équipe. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
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