On March 1st, 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the introduction of The Olympic Esports Series 2023. This competition will take place virtually and in person, with the finals taking place from June 22nd-25th at the Suntec Centre in Singapore (Olympics.com, 2023). At this point in time there have been games confirmed for nine sports: Archery, Baseball, Chess, Cycling, Dance, Motor sport, Sailing, Taekwondo, and Tennis (Olympics.com,2023). Qualification rounds have already started, with the invitation that players, regardless of expertise, are welcomed to play and try out.
As somebody who only plays online chess with my friends and JustDance very rarely, I realize that I do not completely understand what this all means from a viewer standpoint. I am not fully immersed in the online esports world so how could I properly comment on this? I decided to reach out to Zachary Schryer, the President of St. Clair College’s Esports Club, to answer a couple of questions.
How do you feel regarding the IOC’s announcement?
Mr. Schryer begins to say how “The IOC’s announcement is disappointing, but not surprising.”, and that although this is the first iteration of this concept, it is still “less than ideal”.
“While it is understandable that certain games like CS: GO and Call of Duty wouldn’t be showing up at one of these events due to the violence found in these games, it’s disappointing to not even be able to get the few family-friendly esports that are out there like League of Legends, I-Racing, and I’d even argue Overwatch.”
Mr. Schryer then explains how his biggest disappointment with the announcement is the “competitive integrity of some of these games, as well as them all just being dumbed-down, less-interesting versions of the real thing.
“It’s my opinion that the thing that sets most of the biggest esports apart from the rest is that they can’t be replicated in real life. It’s an experience that can only be had in game, and the biggest esports are ones that give people a large amount of skill expression.”
Do you think this will change the way the world will see esports? Do you think it will be a positive or a negative response?
Mr. Schryer told me that he did not believe that this competition will have an impact on how the world views esports.
He explained to me that those involved in esports could understand what the IOC is doing compared to others. “A lot of the current and future esports fans, creators, and players are all young and can tell the difference between what the IOC is doing and everyone else. However, I don’t expect the general reaction to this event to be very positive. The older Olympic audience will likely see this as a joke, as will the younger audience that knows what esports is.”
References
1. https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-announces-olympic-esports-series-2023