The International Olympic Committee is finally embracing video games.
The IOC on Tuesday approved the creation of the Olympic Esports Games, something the organization has been weighing seriously since 2018. The vote was unanimous.
The decision does not mean Pac-Man and Call of Duty will be part of the Summer or Winter Games, however. Instead, the Olympic Esports Games will be a separate event, with the first edition held in 2025 in Saudi Arabia. Work now begins on selecting the specific timing of the event, the titles to be included, the qualification process for the players, and additional details.
“This is truly a new era for the IOC,” said IOC President Thomas Bach in a statement. “We are keeping up with the pace of the digital revolution. … This is further proof of the attractivity of the Olympic brand and the values it stands for among young people.”
While serious talks about including esports in the Olympics did not begin until 2018, the idea has been flirted with for much longer. In 2006, Ted Owen, founder of the Global Gaming League (one of the first competitive gaming organizations), began talks with the Chinese government to introduce video games as a demonstration sport in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
Those efforts ultimately fell flat, but they planted a seed. And the rapid rise in esports popularity led Olympic officials to reconsider them to keep the Olympics relevant to a younger audience.
Esports might seem a strange fit for the IOC to include, even in a separate event, but many of the Olympics most popular events were similarly greeted with skepticism. Snowboarding wasn’t added until 1998. And as the X Games grew in popularity, the Olympics added Big Air aerials and slope-style skiing.
Olympic esports are unlikely to be like private tournaments, though. As the IOC noted in 2018, some titles (like action games and shooters) are “not compatible” with the Olympic values and the group expressed concern that the “industry is commercially driven” as opposed to the “values-based” aim of other sports, a claim that many might find fault with.
That means familiar action games are unlikely to be featured, while obscure sports simulators are highlighted, which could prevent the sports’ top players from competing.