Saudi Arabia to host the Inaugural Esports Olympics in 2025

On June 14th 2024, Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the upcoming creation of the Esports Olympics. A month later, on July 12th 2024, the location for the inaugural esports Olympics was announced. Set to kick off in 2025, Saudi Arabia has been confirmed as the host country according to L’Equipe.

This announcement follows the roaring success that is the Esports World Cup, currently held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hosting 21 esports titles across 22 tournaments. The announcement comes as little surprise, considering the vast sums that Saudi Arabia has been steadily pouring into the esports industry as part of the country’s Vision 2030 plan.

According to Thomas Bach, this new creation, which has yet to be validated until the 142nd session of the IOC, will be organized “within the framework of an entirely new specialized structure within the IOC.” He went on to explain that the event (Esports Olympics) will be “clearly separated from the organizational and financial model of the Olympic Games.”

“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.” - Thomas Bach.

Investment in the IOC

Moreover, it has also been reported that the IOC has entered into a 12-year financial agreement with the Saudi Olympic Committee. According to reports, the first edition of the Esports Olympics is set to take place at the end of 2025 due to taking into account various competitive calendars.

“We are fortunate to be able to work with the Saudi Olympic Committee on the eSports Olympics. Through this partnership, we have ensured that the values of Olympism are respected, in particular on the games on the program, the promotion of gender equality, and the engagement of young audiences, who are very attracted to esports,”

- Thomas Bach, President, International Olympic Committee

Following that, other editions will proceed every two years. South Korea and the United States have already been reported as having entered discussions with the IOC to host.

With multiple heavyweight esports titles such as League of Legends, Valorant, and now even Counter-Strike having a pre-agreed upon ‘player break’, the interesting portion to note will be how this newly included event takes into consideration the state of players and the necessary preparations already needed to compete during their respective active seasons.

Esports Olympics: What can we expect?

Based on initial information from the announcement, the Esports Olympics should retain their 3 categories: virtual sports, sports simulations (e.g. FC24, NBA2K), and the most popular esports games (e.g. League of Legends).

Reports also indicate that other games such as Rocket League and Street Fighter have discussions well underway for their inclusion in 2025 as well. Reportedly the IOC is hoping to bring together around 15 games (spread across the 3 categories mentioned above) and more than 60 nations.

Proper Embracing of esports?

This ‘Esports Olympics’ is not the first attempt by the IOC to enter into the esports sphere. However, past attempts have been unsuccessful and untenable in the sense that 1) it netted varying degrees of success and 2) the IOC failed to grasp the nuanced differences between integrating ‘traditional’ sports and esports titles.

This is especially true in some of the most popular esports titles in the world - e.g. League of Legends - which bears no links to ‘traditional’ sports or any involvement with international sports federations.

Despite all that, the IOC remains positive that there is room within the Olympics ecosystem for esports. “We are very excited how enthusiastically the esports community represented in our Esports Commission has engaged with this initiative,” said Thomas Bach. “This is further proof of the attractivity of the Olympic brand and the values it stands for.”

In 2019, the Intel World Open featured both Rocket League and Street Fighter V. This was a global event supported by the IOC. Looking back further, the FIFAe World Cup was established back in 2004 and historically held its tournaments on the latest incarnation of the FIFA association football video game series.

Since FIFA and EA parted ways after the release of FIFA 23 (2022 launch), the FIFAe World Cup has now shifted into a football-focused tournament series. At the end of June, it was reported that FIFA was including Rocket League as well, marking another step towards the legitimisation of esports within the broader spectrum of ‘sports’.

Esports Olympics: A Milestone 8 Years in the Making

Between 2017 and 2018, an Olympic Summit was called. The focus of the summit was to discuss “opportunities for further engagement and interaction”. What emerged eventually from these initial talks, was the IOC Esports Commision.

In 2021, the first pilot venture in esports took flight - the Olympic Virtual Series. It was an online-only event held during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and featured 5 sports (baseball, cycling, motorsport, rowing, and sailing).

A 2022 edition of the Olympic Virtual Series was planned, but never materialized. Instead, it was replaced by the Olympic Esports Series.

In 2023, the IOC followed up with the Olympic Esports Week, hosted in Singapore. This event featured over 130 players and was created in collaboration with game publishers and international sports federations (IFs). 4 of the 9 game titles returned for this edition, and a 10th was included (shooting), in the form of Fortnite.

Before you get excited, it’s not quite the Fortnite you may remember. Furthermore, the full list for the 2023 Olympic Esports Week included archery, baseball, chess, cycling, dance, motorsport, sailing, shooting, taekwondo, and tennis.

What held esports back?

Despite the significant inroads that esports was making with the Olympics committee, criticism was nevertheless leveled at the organizers and event. The primary focus of the criticism was on the choice of game titles.

Many of the games chosen lacked significant global recognition. However, the IOC’s explanation was that the games chosen aligned with the Olympic Values and had been proposed by international sports governing bodies.

According to the reports that emerged from the initial 2017 meeting, two concerns arose. Traditional esports titles such as Counter-Strike, Dota, League of Legends, and Valorant were all considered too violent for inclusion in an Olympic-style esports competition.

Despite that, a further forum was still held in 2018. However, the second and likely more crucial issue that arose during these discussions was the lack of a single international federation to govern esports. It is a requirement for any sport to be recognised by the Olympics committee and to be recognised as an ‘Olympic sport.’

Slowly but surely, legitimization and recognition perhaps?

Still, other sporting events, such as the Asian Games in 2023, recognized esports as a medal event, and now, the IOC appears to have met a solution with regards to the above concerns.

Instead of contending with their values, the IOC has decided to engage with esports - while still keeping a clear distinction from the Games. This move to establish an ‘Esports Olympics’, separate from the Olympic Games, indicates that it is unlikely that esports will ever find harmony and inclusion among the Games.

“With respect to esports, our values are and remain the red line that we will never cross” said Thomas Bach.

This solution alleviates the concern, albeit in a rather uncreative manner. If there is a problem child but you still wish to include them in the family photo, just keep them in a separate room until they’re needed. That seems to be the sentiment and ultimate decision the IOC has come up with.

According to a report, the Olympic Esports Series attracted over 500, 000 unique participants as well as generated over 6 million views across all channels. Hence, the positive shifting position of the IOC in its support for esports lines up with their desire to continue to utilize esports as a valuable fan acquisition tool for the Olympic brand.

Further Updates to Expect

The meeting of the IOC committee to validate this new event will take place between July 22nd to the 24th the same month. Further discussions on the matter will likely follow post-meeting. Follow Strafe Esports for the latest developments of Esports Olympics.

Credit: Roslan Rahman/AFP