IOC considers introducing e-sports into Olympic Games

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) plans to host a forum on e-sports on July 21 at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne with Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) to discuss the possibility of introducing video games into Olympic Games, reported the Associated Press (AP) Wednesday.

According to AP, e-sports executives, players, sponsors and event organizers will join IOC and GAISF in Lausanne for the discussion to set up links between Olympic Games and e-sports industry for better communication.

People watch the Intel Extreme Masters 2018 World Championships e-sports match of StarCraft II in Katowice, Poland, March 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

Kit McConnell, the IOC's sports director, sees the forum as a “great opportunity for both the Olympic Movement and representatives from the world of e-sports and gaming to begin a discussion, listen and learn from each other, and understand the potential opportunities for collaboration.”

In autumn 2017, the IOC and other Olympic organizations discussed e-sports at a summit and agreed that they could become a sporting event. The attraction to and popularity among the younger generation has made e-sports a tempting target for the Olympics. Participants of the summit charged both IOC and GAISF with launching a dialogue with the video game industry.

E-sports is a big a attraction to the younger generation. /VCG Photo

The Olympic Council of Asia in May selected League of Legends (LOL), Hearthstone, StarCraftⅡ, Pro Evolution Soccer, Clash Royale and Arena of Valor as demonstration sports for debut of video games at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta between August 18 to Sept. 2. Winners will receive medals, however they will not be counted as part of the official medal table.

China has already announced the country’s teams for three of the games. For LOL, six players including five in the first squad and one substitute, made up of four members from RNG, world champion of 2018 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI): “Letme” Yan Junze, “Uzi” Jian Zihao, “Mlxg” Liu Shiyu and “Ming” Shi Senming joined by “Meiko” Tian Ye and “Xiye” Su Hanwei from EDG.

For Arena of Valor, China will also send seven star-players from the KPL, the game's top league, to Jakarta for competition. “Lciop” Huang Chenghui, MVP of 2018 CRL, will play Clash Royale for China.