Olympic Esports Week: Everything you need to know
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed that the inaugural Olympic Esports Week will occur in Singapore between June 22 and June 25, 2023. The announcement represents the next significant step in promoting the growth of virtual sports inside the Olympic Movement and expanding engagement with competitive gamers.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Sport Singapore, and the Singapore National Olympic Committee (SNOC), the Olympic Esports Week will showcase the best of virtual sports – hybrid physical and simulated sports – with a four-day festival featuring the latest technologies, panel discussions, education sessions, and demonstration matches.
IOC confirms Singapore as host of first Olympic Esports Week in June 2023
The announcement marks the next major step in supporting the development of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement and engaging further with competitive gamers.
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The centerpiece of the week will be the first in-person live finals of the Olympic Esports Series, a global virtual and simulated sports competition created in conjunction with the International Federations (IFS) that builds on the triumphs of the Olympic Virtual Series from the previous year. The 2021 series gathered over 250,000 competitors from 100 nations to compete in virtual and simulated baseball, motorsport, cycling, rowing, and sailing, among other disciplines.
Speaking on the news, Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said,
"The first Olympic Esports Week represents a significant milestone in our efforts to promote the growth of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement. We feel that the exciting new structure of our virtual sports tournament, which will feature live finals for the first time, is an opportunity to expand our collaboration with esports players and offer new opportunities for players and viewers. We look forward to working together with Singapore, which has a history of promoting innovation within the Olympic Movement and hosted the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010."
IOC vice-president and SNOC Board member Ng Ser Miang stated,
"The Singapore NOC shares the Olympic Movement's desire to investigate the growth of virtual sports. Singapore has a history of successfully hosting some of the largest virtual sports and esports events - we are honoured to be working with the IOC to make this common goal a reality."
In 2018, esports made its debut at the Asian Games as a demonstration event. In 2022, it will debut as a medal sport. Originally scheduled for September of this year, the Asian Games 2022 will instead take place from September 23 to October 8, 2023. At the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championship 2022 in Birmingham, the Indian DOTA 2 team put up an impressive performance to earn a bronze medal.
Indian esports giants on IOC Esports Week
With the expanding popularity and scope of esports in India, prominent participants in the Indian scene expressed their opinions on the IOC esports week:
Animesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of 8bit Creative, commented on the future of the esports community and the many stimulating sports.
“While the Esports community is wondering about the next and the best possible steps to integrate Esports into the Olympics as well as other multi-sports global events, this inaugural edition of the Olympic Esports Week will surely play a crucial role in establishing esports/virtual sports as an integral part of the sporting universe"
He lauded the IOC's efforts and added that they feel privileged to have witnessed the shift.
With International Olympic Committee (IOC) taking this concrete initiative it is imperative that we as the esports community start having the right dialogues with the stakeholders that matter. I must add that we are fortunate to experience the change, which also means it is our responsibility to create a strong and unified voice for the Indian Esports community going forward
He hopes that games such as Dota 2, FIFA, and others will be added to the list of virtual and stimulating sports that we saw in the previous Olympic Virtual Series.
"We also hope that apart from the virtual and simulated sports that happened in last year's Olympic virtual esports series, prominent esports titles like DOTA 2, FIFA, Hearthstone, League of Legends and Valorant will also make their entry into this year's event and further leverage the humongous audience base of competitive gaming around the world.”
Lokesh Suji, director of the Esports Federation of India and vice-president of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF), discussed AIMAG 2025 and its impact on the international esports landscape.
“After Esports being proposed as an official medal sport of AIMAG 2025, this news further fortifies the dawn of Esports as a mainstream sport in international multi-sport events."
He spoke on the collaborative efforts of international organizations and the IOC's commitment to esports.
"The combined efforts of numerous major international organizations along with the International Olympics Council (IOC) are bearing fruit for the global Esports community and giving them a platform to make their country proud by bringing laurels on the international stage. IOC, the apex body of sports continuing its engagement with esports is proof of the potential of esports and it is a phenomenon that cannot be ignored"
Suji expressed hope that esports will receive the recognition it deserves and eventually become an Olympic medal sport.
"We hope that Esports gets official recognition as a sport in India just like other countries as it will enable us to go full throttle and scale great heights in video gaming. Soon enough, every individual in the country will seek to be involved in this video gaming revolution and the day is not far when esports will also get included as a medal sport in Olympics just like Asian Games.”
Rohit Jagasia, founder and CEO of Revenant Esports, provided light on the enthusiasm behind the announcement of the esports week.
“The entire Esports fraternity will be rejoicing with this welcome news, which has certainly been a result of the gaming community's collective efforts spanning over the last few years
He discussed the significance of gaming and the quick expansion of esports in India.
The inaugural edition of the Olympics Esports Week is a testament to global bodies realizing the value of gaming and giving it the recognition that it deserves. With the gaming industry in India growing at such a rapid pace and accumulating never seen before numbers in terms of revenue we can hopefully expect India to be one of the countries that have officially recognized Esports as a sport soon
Lastly, he spoke on the notion of esports earning its keep as a medal sport.
"It is about time for gaming to get included as an official medal sport at all major multi-sport events and it will be an immense pleasure to see India become a dominant force in it.”
Rohit Agarwal, founder & director of Alpha Zegus, spoke enthusiastically about the location of esports week and the expansion of the Indian esports community.
“After the great success last year, many gamers were looking forward to Olympic Esports week, and what better location than the commercial epicenter of Asia Pacific, Singapore! Fingers crossed for more opportunities for India now, and for more of our local and national teams to take part. Also, this will fuel the esports ecosystem and the sporting event further leverage the huge viewership base of competitive gaming around the globe.”
Adapting this model will help the Olympics attract a new audience while offering esports considerably more access to businesses and consumers that were previously hesitant or wary.