International Olympic Committee: Executive Board Proposes Creation of ‘Olympic Esports Games’, Everything We Know So Far

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has just shared a major announcement for the global esports industry. As per this announcement, the Executive Board (EB) of the IOC will share a proposal to create the "Olympic Esports Games" (OEG) during the 142nd IOC Session during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The IOC noted that it is "already in advanced discussions" to hold the OEG, and esports fans can likely expect an announcement "very soon".

IOC President Thomas Bach announces that the Executive Board has proposed the creation of 'Olympic Esports Games' to the 142nd IOC Session.

The IOC Members will vote on this proposal at the Session during the Olympic Games Paris 2024. pic.twitter.com/lIBUCxm2kK

— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) June 14, 2024

Olympic Esports Games Details

According to the details shared on the IOC website, IOC members will consider and vote on this proposal during the upcoming session. In the announcement, Thomas Bach, the IOC President, also said, "With the creation of Olympic Esports Games, the IOC is taking a major step forward and is keeping up with the pace of the digital revolution."

Bach added, "We are very excited how enthusiastically the esports community represented in our Esports Commission has engaged with this initiative." He noted, "This is further proof of the attractivity of the Olympic brand and the values it stands for." As part of the proposal, the IOC "highlighted" the need for "a completely new dedicated structure" for the Olympic Esports Games.

The IOC and Esports

Looking back, the IOC started focusing on esports with the Esports Forum in 2018. After this Forum, the organisation created an "Esports Liaison Group" to work with industry stakeholders, which changed to the "IOC Esports Commission." Moving forward, the IOC created the "Olympic Virtual Series," its first esports-related event. This led to the creation of the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore in June 2023 which connected the Olympic and esports communities.

Olympic Esports Week in 2023

Olympic Esports Week 2023 was organised with the help of International Sports Federations (IFs) and game publishers. Over 130 players participated in 10 mixed-gender events, and more than 500,000 people participated in the Olympic Esports Series, the qualification event for the Olympic Esports Week. The overall success of the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore encouraged the IOC president to ask for a study on creating the Olympic Esports Games.

This development is likely to encourage the Indian government (including additional states) to focus on and invest in esports in the coming years.