The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has unveiled the first-ever esports event “Olympic Virtual Series (OVS)”. The OVS is scheduled to run for six weeks from May 13th as a pre-event to the upcoming summer Olympics.
Historic step forward for esports
The planned OVS features baseball, cycling, rowing, sailing, and motorsports. The IOC maintains Olympic values of fairness in carefully selecting the five game titles. All the game titles selected for the event feature digital representation and simulation of real-life sports, as acknowledged by the Global Association of International Sports Federation. The selected titles include “eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020” (Konami), “Union Cycliste Internationale” (Zwift), “World Rowing” (Open format), “World Sailing” (Virtual Regatta), and “Gran Turismo” (Polyphony Digital).
Esports en route to an Olympic sport
Furthermore, the Olympic Charter calls on the IOC “to oppose any political or commercial abuse of sport and athletes”. Most esports titles are owned or operated by large game publishers, which means huge commercial interests. Even if esports becomes an official Olympic game, it is unlikely that the most popular game products such as League of Legends will become approved titles for competitions.
Growing appeal of esports in Asia
Although it may have come as a surprise to many that the Tokyo Games has become the host of the inaugural Olympic-licensed esports event, it is surely a welcome news especially for the younger generations who are more likely to be actively following esports events around the world. For the Tokyo Olympics to incorporate esports in a pre-event is a practical solution to engage more audiences and bring enthusiasm for the Olympics in and out of Tokyo at the time of the coronavirus pandemic. #KhabarLive #hydnews