Sargis "SK996" Khachatryan Can esports be an Olympic sport? This possibility has been under the review of the International Olympic Committee for years, until the organization eventually decided to give virtual sports a chance to be present at the Olympic Virtual Series. But what are the main reasons for allowing or excluding the billion dollar competition sphere from the list?
Esports are often compared with traditional sports. They are referred to as the modern day competitive activity. Not long has passed since they originated and eventually became a common practice. More than that, this practice is a trendy field that can be turned into a rather promising career. As this field is expanding, it starts to include more and more regulations within the borders, making it similar to the sphere of traditional sport. Now the general question is: will esports be in the Olympics eventually?
Why esports should be in the Olympics?
Esports popularity
The rising popularity of esports has made a real boom both before and after the online era of business. It's easy to guess that people have not lost their desire to compete under the harsh times of quarantines, isolations, cancellation of in-person events and more, all due to the pandemic. Compared to the traditional types of sport, here in esports you are not limited to testing your skills face to face with your opponents. Connecting to the global network opens up new possibilities and chances for those who want to embrace the full potential of competitive gaming, that’s formally called esports.
In some cases the popularity of esports is even surpassing that of the traditional one. In the past you could see people gathering in pubs or sports bars to watch their favorite competition, and now the same practice applies to the esports scene. What is more, betting on esports is a fresh way of the original practice, i. e. sports betting.
Esports has become popular globally. This happened not overnight, but rather throughout the years. Check out our history of esports, in case you want to learn more on this topic.
After so many similarities linking sports and esports together, the pondering point comes forth: is esports an Olympic sport? Ths short answer is no, but it deserves to be a part of the competitive games package. Accordingly, will esports be in the Olympics? This depends on many factors, but arrows now hint at this possibility even more, and there are the following reasons for that.
The same rules and equal chances for everyone
Esports require certain skills, depending on the genre of the competitive title and its general rules. The good thing is that it is accessible to broad masses, allowing many talented players to demonstrate their abilities in the digital environment. With that said, esports is not limited to the professionals who start their way in the academy rosters from the earliest ages. There are communities that welcome both male and female performers, as well as individuals from minor groups and limited physiological capabilities. As you can see, many rules coincide with those allowed in the Olympic sports. Thus, when will esports be in the Olympics, the society will, hopefully, accept it as a natural addition.
The variety of esports titles
Esports titles were not as diverse in the earliest stages of development, as they are nowadays. Many titles added up throughout the years. Back in the 80s nobody knew anything about Battle Royale games, Rocket League, Sim Racings etc. On the other hand, one of the first competitive games were in the genre of real time strategies, fighting games and basic shooters.
People test their abilities to stand out by completing in-game tasks more effectively than their opponents, earning more points and setting records like they do in traditional sports in and out of the Olympic games. So an esports player is chasing the same ambitions as a traditional sportsman or sportswoman. This emerges the two separate worlds one step closer, so when esports will be in the Olympics is a matter of time. However, currently the International Olympic Committee has a slightly different vision when it comes to integrating virtual sports within the traditional Olympic games. They want to stick as close to the traditional values as possible.
Through time, the trends are going to change, as esports becomes more and more popular among different age groups and different social statuses. Eventually, the video games that seemed to have nothing in common with the values of Olympic titles, will have their dedicated regulations, and more people will be able to spectate their favorite players compete once more, this time, from the Olympic arenas. Maybe, the solutions could include removing violent scenes and animations in Olympic versions of competitive video games.
Why should esports not be in the Olympics?
There have been debates since the last couple of years on whether esports should be in the Olympics or not. But to make everything formal, it should be accepted by the International Olympic Committee to do that. However, many countries and esports organizations have already sent a request to the IOC, so that in the next Olympic Games esports was included as a separate competition. Things didn't work out internationally, but this is set to change soon, as the next Asian Games have already agreed to include esports titles in their schedule. There will be up to 8 games, where competitors will be able to grab medals in esports:
- Arena of Valor, Asian Games version;
- Dota 2;
- Dream Three Kingdoms 2;
- EA Sports FIFA branded soccer game;
- Hearthstone;
- League of Legends;
- PUBG Mobile, Asian Games version;
- Street Fighter V.
The event will take place in China, Xiacheng District Esports Venue, starting from September 10 to 25, 2022.
Maybe later in the future, other events will start to include esports games as a part of the celebration. However, there are still people that do not support the idea of esports entering the world of International Olympics. Here is why.
Violence in video games
The ideology of the Olympics sometimes does not match with all the visual aspects of modern-day competitive games to its full extent. The reason is that many of them are demonstrating violence, whereas the Olympics represent the ideas of peace and humanism. Titles like Dota 2, CS:GO and many more depict scenes of violence, including blood. This is one of the basic reasons why should esports not be in the olympics.
The dominance of one gender in the industry
It is not a secret that in sports and gaming man are dominant in count. The same refers to the esports scene. There are more male competitive gamers than females. However, in recent years esports organizations were trying to make it easier for girls to step into the world of esports, adding them to the existing rosters or opening new departments, where only females compete. One of such examples was the GGForAll CS:GO series announced earlier this year. Add to that, some experts suggest males and females to compete together, meaning that in a roster of 2, 5 or 6 there might be esports athletes of both genders.
License problems for esports titles
Videogames are produced by creative studios of this or that publisher. This means that they own all the rights to decide whether they are making a game an esports-driven product or not. They might disallow esports organizations to use their product to gain any profit. At the same time, the publisher itself should take care of the games already existing in the world of esports. This means that regular updates, reworks, bug fixes, thematic events and much more should be planned over the course of the competitive year.
Developers will have work closely with the esports industry and gamers at the same time, satisfy the needs of both, if they want to maintain and add up to the success built up as a result. At the same time the IOC will have to work with competitive game publishers, if they decide to add esports as a separate branch in the upcoming Olympic games.
Absence of anti-doping action
Competitive video games, just like sports, require the combination of skill and technique. That’s why in some areas using performance enhancing medicine can affect the end result of both. In sports events it is regulated by anti-doping tests. However, not everywhere the rules are kept strictly. When it comes to esports, the lack of anti-doping checks can result in a non-fair play, which is against the ideas and laws of the Olympics. Of course, dealing with cheats is easier in the digital world, as there is plenty of data if a team or an individual uses cheats during the play. Sooner or later the violation of rules will be found out, and the guilty could be disqualified from a certain event for a lifetime, as a final decision.
Will esports be in the Olympics in 2024?
Paris Games 2024 are rumored to include esports as a new competition genre, which means that the official status of esports is expanding from Asia into European countries. Paris Games will be focused on promoting the youth, which means that esports games get more chances to attract masses during the days of LAN events.
It looks like the IOC is speaking positively about video games that are closer to real life sports. Moreover, they approve of virtual events where physical activity still plays a reasonable role. As you can guess, virtual cycling, virtual sim racings and virtual boat rowing. They all fall onto the list of active esports, that’s why they are the priority for IOC in the digital era.
Can esports be an olympic sport later? Other voices claim that esports will be fully present with its main disciplines possibly in 2028, when the Olympics will be hosted in Los Angeles, California. So even if in 2024 the sphere still seems “premature”, the world will definitely be ready to welcome new types of competitions in the name of esports.
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