The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that the first Olympic esports games will take place in Saudi Arabia in 2025 as part of a 12-year collaboration with the country's Olympic committee. The host city, venues, and dates of the competition have not yet been determined, as well as the games and the qualification process for each.
The IOC says that international federations and national Olympic committees that are already involved in the digital version of their sport and esports as a whole will be its first partners. The organization applied a similar approach to an event held last year, where players competed in Gran Turismo, Fortnite, Just Dance, Zwift, and other games.
Of course, the IOC aims to attract other popular disciplines of esports. The organization is in talks with the publishers of Rocket League, Street Fighter, and the largest esports game, League of Legends. The Olympic esports games may take place every two years. South Korea and the USA are in negotiations to host future Olympic esports games.
The IOC has been contemplating for years whether to hold an official esports event under its flag, and ultimately decided to take this step. However, the choice of Saudi Arabia as the host of the first Olympic esports games is strange, considering the terrible state of human rights in that country. The country is using sports and other events to try to clean up its image. It is investing billions of dollars in esports and gaming companies, establishing partnerships with publishers, and hosting a World Championship in esports with a prize pool of $60 million.
Source: Engadget
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