Let‘s know about the 2025 Olympic Esports Games

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a 12-year partnership with Saudi Arabia. They will host the first Olympic Esports Games in 2025. They are selecting the city and venue. The event’s time and specific details are being determined. They are deciding on events and participant qualification procedures.

01

How did the esports Olympics get up？

This is the IOC’s biggest foray into esports to date, and there are four drivers:

First, the Olympic series of events to be young and urgent. Greater inclusion of extreme sports such as skateboarding is a sign, but not enough.

Second, the success of the first two experiments (OVS, OEW) led the IOC to recognize the independent value of esports. What’s more, the IOC sees possibilities for itself and game makers to work together.

Third, the Hangzhou Asian Games became an official event for the first time and achieved success. Under the witness of the Olympic Council of Asia, it has completed the perfect integration with the Olympic spirit and the intercontinental comprehensive Games. In addition, this will also be repeated in the 26-year-old Nagoya Asian Games.

Fourth, the Saudis, with their strong capital strength, are trying to integrate today’s global esports industry. The world omnibus is a scarce resource. Once the top stage is firmly established, it is very difficult to come from behind. This sense of crisis has made the IOC realize that it must move faster, or cooperate more closely.

So, in addition to the IOC, it is the Saudis who are making the esports Olympics a reality. Looking back over the past few years, the Saudis have invested extremely heavily and decisively in the esports industry.

From 2021 onwards, the Saudis began to invest heavily in the esports and gaming industry. In the first half of the year, Middle Eastern esports investment exceeded $10 billion. In February 2023, Hero Sports VSPO received 1.8 billion yuan from Savvy Games Group. This amount equals the total investment in China’s sports industry in 2022.

02

Esports Olympics are here, what does it mean?

It is worth noting that in the cooperation of the esports Olympic Games, the IOC and the Saudi Olympic Committee signed a statute of limitations of up to 12 years. If measured by traditional Olympic standards, it would be three Olympic cycles.

Will the next three esports Olympics all be held in Saudi Arabia? You should know that the traditional Olympic Games (Summer and Winter Olympics) adopt a rotation system, never two consecutive events held in the same country.

Therefore, it will be a profound observation point whether the esports Olympics will create a precedent for the IOC on the rules of the host country of the Olympic brand events. After all, the lackluster bid for the Summer Olympics has long been known.

But if the esports Olympics really settled in Saudi Arabia for at least three consecutive times, and the competitive level and vertical influence were as they hoped. This means that Saudi Arabia will officially take the throne of the first country in the world of e-sports and become their most important national business card.

03

Project selection, the focus of esports Olympic Games

As a core concern, the selection of events will become one of the most important issues in the coming year. IOC’s previous esports case a lot of focus on virtual sports, encountered the main game esports in Saudi Arabia, then this esports Olympic project selection will change?

Many experts indicates that the esports Olympic Games will most likely lead virtual sports to a new milestone.

Tthe virtual sports market is still in the rising stage. For the further determination of the future e-sports Olympic Games, and the individual federation to further clarify the technical rules of their own virtual projects,

On the gaming and esports side, the situation is much more complicated. For the Hangzhou Asian Games, for example, AESF has taken on the important role of selecting events, coordinating vendors and setting technical standards for the competition, but in the global environment, who will take the lead is still up in the air.

The only thing that is certain is that in the future development of game esports, esports sports has become one of the most important roads.

In the ultimate vision of esports, the game manufacturer may not just be a cold rights holder. Many plan to become part of the Olympic family. However, due to the short development time, integration is difficult. They cannot easily fit into the system of individual associations, like virtual sports. This requires them to clarify industry standards and gain IOC recognition through their own efforts.