As reported by numerous sources, the American multinational corporation and technology company Intel recently entered talks with the International Olympic committee in hopes of speeding up the process of esports finding their way into the Olympic Games.
The never-ending debate has split the community in two. Should esports be included in the Olympic Games? And does esports even have a place in the Olympic Movement?
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Not only has this question been asked numerous times before among friends and family, but on the global scale as well. While there are understandably people and companies which disagree, there are also several big corporations and companies that are trying to do their best to help esports become officially recognised as a real sport. And what better way to do so than bringing esports into one of the world’s leading international sporting events?
It is hard to ignore the incredible growth of the esports industry. Like it or not, the youth is our future and today’s gamers are the people who will dictate what will happen in 20-30 years’ time. To many people, perhaps even most people, the idea of including esports into the Olympics seems like the fever dream of a mad man. But the world is evolving and with it the thinking process of people, so it is time to acknowledge the change and adapt.
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The IOC has shown some interest in including esports as a medal event in the Olympic Games. While an official decision is some ways off, there are several signs that suggest the committee’s thinking favours the side of progress.
Recent reports claim Intel wants to enter into an official partnership with the IOC, which would be a huge step for the esports community. However, IOC president Thomas Bach stated that if or when esports find their way into the Olympic Games, no violent games will be played, which will exclude industry-leading titles such as CS: GO, Dota 2, League of Legends and many more. Still, that statement shows the IOC has put some thought into the inclusion of esports in the Olympic Games.
There are a lot of arguments to be made in favour of esports being equal to traditional sports, but there are also plenty of points to be made against it. Rather than listing them all here, instead we can celebrate the cooperation between IOC and Intel and the possibilities it might open up for the future of esports.
While we look towards the greater goal of esports joining the Olympic Games, it is worth noting that esports have already appeared in a traditional sporting tournament. They were a featured discipline at the 2018 Asian Games, where countries competed in Clash Royale, Hearthstone, StarCraft II, PES 2018, Arena of Valor and League of Legends.
Considering how well pro gaming has been accepted in Asia, we might be closer than we think to seeing esports hit the mainstream.
Intel Extreme Masters key to esports Olympic future
Intel has promised to make use of the recent Intel Extreme Masters PyeongChang event as grounds for a serious campaign to catapult esports into the group of Olympic sports. IEM PyeongChang hosted a $150,000 Starcraft II tournament won by Canadian Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn. The most successful woman in all of esports took the trophy by beating hometown favorite and Starcraft legend Kim “sOs” Yoo-jin.
The tournament was held a week prior to the start of this year’s Winter Olympic Games and was directly supported by the International Olympic Committee. The games were broadcast on official Olympic channels, and in the words of the organizer, were a chance to show the Olympic representatives a taste of competitive gaming.
Intel and ESL refer to the tournament’s success as a “first step” towards making esports an Olympic sport. Intel’s Vice-President and General Manager for esports and Gaming, John Bonini, was quoted in an interview with The Australian Financial Review as saying: “We’re really happy with that first step. It’s going to take several steps and several years, I think, to figure out where we’ll end up, but so far we’ve been making some progress.”
“The Olympic Committee has acknowledged it’s a sporting activity, and I think that helped open the door for some testing.”
Intel also became a tech partner to the Olympic Games in 2017 and will remain in that role until at least 2024.
Bonini gave a speech at this year’s global esports Forum held in Katowice and stated that Intel wishes to be the “Switzerland” in tying esports and the Olympics closer together.
The CEO of ESL, Ralf Reichert, stated that IEM PyeongChang was an unusual tournament in the sense of demonstrating esports to a huge potential partner. He compared the recent tournament to the first IEM finals held back in 2007, which was also made to showcase the potential of esports to IT industry executives, rather than as just a simple event for the fans.
He referred to the huge viewer numbers of both live and online viewers as a proof that esports are loved around the world, and noted the wild success IEM tournaments have achieved in the past 12 years. He said that it would surprise him if a similar advance isn’t made in the next 12 years, since the tournament in PyeongChang.
Violence in video games have no place in the Olympics
Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, noted that the violence in many video games could prevent them from fitting in at the Olympics. Bonini disagrees suggesting his opinion might have changed as he discovered more about the world of esports.
“Of course, we don’t want violent games – that’s not consistent with the Olympic charter,” he said.
“But I still think there’s a lot of other opportunities.
“When they talk about trying to bring different cultures together to peaceful promotion of mankind, certainly esports can create that kind of opportunity.
There is also a practical side for the Olympics organisers. They see the young demographic and the huge growth in esport and they think how do we help deliver the next growth phase for our consumers.
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