What To Expect From 2025's Exciting, Inaugural Olympic Esports Games
August 13, 2024
The 2024 Summer Olympics have ended and now it's time to look forward. While the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics or the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics probably come to mind first, it's technically the 2025 Olympic Esports Games that will be the next major, standalone event.
If you haven't heard, on July 23rd, the International Olympic Committee approved the creation of the Olympic Esports Games, with the inaugural event to be hosted in 2025. Saudi Arabia has been chosen as the host nation and they will actually have the rights to host the Games for the next 12 years. No exact date or city has been chosen just yet. In fact, there is a lot that still needs to be decided so the conversation we'll be having here will be more speculation than anything else.
What Games Will Be Present?
During the process of establishing the Olympic Esports Games, no specific video game was ever mentioned. And that's for a very valid reason — the IOC doesn't have the ultimate say when it comes to what games will be available. It's really up to the owners of the IP. If Capcom really didn't want Street Fighter 6 to be at the Games, for example, that would be the end of the discussion. The event is wholly dependent on the generosity of all different kinds of companies.
I've hinted at it already, but, yes, it appears to be the case that there will be more than just team games at the Olympic Esports Games. This is mainly going off of how this year's Esports World Cup was organized. The events are not related in any way, but the logistics behind both of them will end up being pretty similar, especially considering that both are rooted in Saudi Arabia. The Esports World Cup has games you'd expect like League of Legends and Rocket League, but it ever so slightly leans into FGC-relevance with Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8. It's very possible for those two games to end up in the Olympics, especially with how diverse their playerbases are.
There's nothing guaranteed, however. The IOC has historically pushed back against the idea of promoting "violent" video games. Their idea of violent, though, would exclude way too much. It would mean no League of Legends, no Overwatch 2, definitely no Call of Duty, probably no StarCraft — at some point, it just wouldn't be worth hosting the event. A good policy to follow may be excluding anything with prominent blood effects. That seems like a pretty fair compromise to make — even if Olympic boxing is no stranger to bloodied faces.
Priorities in Promotion
The Olympic Esports Games were undoubtedly established with the idea of acquiring mass engagement from today's youth. Understanding the value of its young audience, the IOC had been considering the idea for a good while. What ultimately brought the concept to life, however, was, actually, the opportunity it presented to promote gender equality. From what we know, that seems to have been a big part of Saudi Arabia's pitch to host the event. A safe and inclusive space for greater female participation within esports — it certainly makes sense on paper.
The real challenge lies in figuring out how to actually implement that. Would you split every single game into a men's and women's competition? There aren't any innate biological advantages when it comes to gaming so that feels like a controversy waiting to happen...Still, there is some merit to the idea. It would be a great way to celebrate overshadowed (but equally as valuable) members of the gaming community. It could also be a great way to develop talent as having the proper incentives would result in more women caring about these games on a competitive level. That would be a positive for everyone. It's hard to say what direction the IOC wants to take things, though.
The inaugural Olympic Esports Games is absolutely something to be excited about. It's also plenty rational for you to be concerned about it. This could take esports to the next level, but that's entirely dependent on the decisions of high-ranking officials. What could go wrong? Well, worst case scenario, we're talking about an event filled to the brim with mobile games...Let's just hope that the right decisions get made.
