The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has this morning confirmed that its inaugural Olympic Esports Week will take place in Singapore between June 22nd and 25th 2023.
The IOC said that the announcement ‘marks the next major step in supporting the development of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement and engaging further with competitive gamers’.
In partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Sport Singapore and the Singapore National Olympic Committee (SNOC), the Olympic Esports Week will showcase virtual sports – hybrid physical and simulated sports (like virtual rowing and sailing) – with the four-day festival, including exhibiting new tech, panel discussions, education sessions and showmatches.
The highlight of the week will be the first in-person live finals of the Olympic Esports Series, a global virtual and simulated sports competition created in collaboration with the International Federations (IFs) following last year’s Olympic Virtual Series.
The 2021 series attracted over 250,000 participants from across 100 countries to take part in competitions in virtual and simulated sports including baseball, motorsport, cycling, rowing and sailing.
It’s not yet clear whether traditional esports games will be a part of this week or not – more info is expected early next year.
“It is a perfect opportunity to be partnering with Singapore, which has a history of supporting innovation in the Olympic Movement, hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, so we are looking forward to working together closely.”
Thomas Bach, IOC
Speaking about the announcement, IOC president Thomas Bach said: “The first Olympic Esports Week marks an important milestone in our ambition to support the growth of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement. We believe the exciting new format of our virtual sports competition, with live finals to be staged for the first time, is an opportunity to collaborate further with esports players and to create new opportunities for players and fans alike.
“It is a perfect opportunity to be partnering with Singapore, which has a history of supporting innovation in the Olympic Movement, hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, so we are looking forward to working together closely.”
SNOC board member and IOC VP Ng Ser Miang said: “The Singapore NOC shares the Olympic Movement’s ambitions of exploring the development of virtual sports. Singapore has a track record of successfully hosting some of the biggest events in the virtual sports and esports calendar – we are honoured to be collaborating with the IOC to bring this shared vision to life.”
Details, including how to be part of the first Olympic Esports Week and Olympic Esports Series, will be revealed in early 2023.
The news comes after the Commonwealth Esports Championships took place in Birmingham this year.
Global Esports Federation and European Olympic Committees form strategic partnership
In a separate piece of news, the Global Esports Federation (GEF) confirmed a strategic partnership with the European Olympic Committees (EOC).
The pair said the partnership ‘will further amplify the GEF’s efforts to promote, expand and develop esports across Europe’.
The partnership also forms part of the EOC’s initiatives to explore new ways of engaging with young people across the continent.
The GEF and the EOC expect to jointly develop new opportunities to make the connection between sport and esports. The European Games, with the third edition in preparation in Kraków-Małopolska, Poland 2023, can be an example that demonstrates the convergence of sport and esports.
“The European Olympic Committees looks forward to this strategic partnership with the Global Esports Federation as we explore the significant growth of esports across our European family,” said Spyros Capralos, president of the European Olympic Committees.
“Europe is one of the growing regions in the development of esports. The partnership with the GEF will help to evolve, build, and shape our strategy around esports.”
Related article: Team Great Britain Reach Finals of Global Esports Games 2022
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
