Olympic Esports Series 2023 (International Olympic Committee)
For those who didn't have time to catch up, at the beginning of the month the Olympic Committee published all the titles that will be played this year in the Olympic eSports Games.
A festive eSports event that will take place at the same time as the Olympic Games and has received all the approvals from all the official bodies.
But how to say it gently?
The choice of games was... odd, to say the least.
Instead of games like Counter Strike, League of Legends, Dota, Rocket League, or any other eSports game that has already proven itself and is being strengthened by a successful and shiny league, much less known games were chosen.
In some cases it was embarrassing, in other cases it was just borderline bizarre.
These are the selected games, according to the different categories:
Archery - the mobile game
Tic Tac Bow
.
Basketball - the game
eBASEBALL POWER PROS
for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
Chess - the online game on
Chess.com
.
Bicycle - the network game
Zwift
.
Dance -
JustDance
.
Motor sport -
Gran Turismo
.
Sailing - the online game
Virtual Regatta
.
Taekwondo - the virtual reality game
Virtual Taekwondo
.
Tennis -
Tennis Clash
.
Many hoped to see at least sports games like FIFA or NBA 2K, so what is the meaning of these games and why exactly were they chosen? Then how is it possible that one of the biggest sports events in the world will be played in such marginal games? The website Polygon contacted the Olympic Committee and demanded answers.
Olympic Esports Series 2023 (photo: official website, International Olympic Committee)
In a statement that was released, it was stated: "When we examined all the proposals, it was important to us that the games that will be played in the Olympic eSports Games conform to the Olympic values: inclusion of participation, technical entry barriers to participation, gender fragmentation of the player base and avoidance of any violence. All this as part of the Olympic Committee's mission to unite the The world is in peaceful competition."
The goal of the Olympic Committee was not only to prevent violence, but to choose games that allow high accessibility for as many players as possible, and not necessarily go according to considerations of the most popular game: "The Olympic Games have always offered a diverse program, including sports whose competitors do not enjoy the high competition platform."
The key word that guided the Olympic Committee was accessibility.
This explains why games like Just Dance were chosen.
The committee consulted quite a bit with the relevant federations around the world when they chose the games.
For example, the International Automobile and Archery Federations are the ones who recommended the titles Gran Turismo and Tic Tac Bow.
As you remember, EA and the world organization FIFA parted ways last year, and this could be the reason why the football title did not find its way into the competition. Because FIFA did not see fit to recommend a game that it is no longer invested in.
Although to the proposed gamer these choices may be perceived as delusional, the Olympic Committee are confident that they made the right decisions, and guarantee that new games will be added to the roster in the future.
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Tags
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olympic games
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