But not in 2025. The Olympic Esports Games have been postponed by at least a year. This was confirmed by ESBD President Flato eSport.
It was a big step for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in terms of eSports. The first “Olympic eSports Games” were supposed to take place in 2025. The IOC announced this at its 142nd session in the middle of last year. Saudi Arabia was named as the venue a little later – for twelve years.
However, the starting signal will probably not be given until 2026 – or possibly even 2027. This was reported by SportBusiness. Christopher Flato, president of the E-Sport-Bund Deutschland, confirmed this to eSport Anfrage.
According to the magazine, the organizers need more time to establish the new hosting and financing model. This should then be clearly different from the traditional Olympic structure.
Game publishers have also expressed concerns about the tight schedule for 2025 – specifically, the lack of confirmed disciplines, venues, dates and qualification methods.
eSport-Inkludierung wider Willen?
In 2018, IOC President Thomas Bach still clearly rejected the idea of including eSports in the Olympic program. However, the COVID pandemic changed the game: first, the Olympic Virtual Series was established, and later the Olympic Esport Week.
Thomas Bach indicated that he is not personally in favor of the new competition: when the Olympic Esports Games were announced, he said that it was not his world that he was leading the IOC into, “but we cannot ignore numbers”. Meanwhile, there is no alternative but to gather eSports under the five rings as well, “if we want to continue to be relevant in the lives of young people”.
