The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed that its inaugural Olympic Esports Week will be held in Singapore between June 22 and 25, 2023.
Now that esports is all set to make its debut at the Asian Games 2022 as a proper medal event, the announcement marks the next major step in supporting the development of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement and engaging further with competitive gamers.
The Asian Games 2022, originally scheduled for September this year, will now be held from September 23 to October 8, 2023.
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 the best of virtual sports, hybrid physical and simulated sports, with the four-day festival, including exhibiting the latest technologies, panel discussions, education sessions and show matches.
Esports is a competitive sport where esports athletes use their physical and mental abilities to compete in certain genres of video games in a virtual, electronic environment. Further to this, the Indian esports industry stakeholders shared their views about the Olympic Esports Week:
Animesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, 8bit Creatives
Animesh Agarwal, 8bit Creatives said, “While the Esports community is wondering about the next and the best possible steps to integrate Esports into the Olympics as well as other multi-sports global events, this inaugural edition of the Olympic Esports Week will surely play a crucial role in establishing esports /virtual sports as an integral part of the sporting universe. With International Olympic Committee (IOC) taking this concrete initiative it is imperative that we as the esports community start having the right dialogues with the stakeholders that matter. I must add that we are fortunate to experience the change, which also means it is our responsibility to create a strong and unified voice for the Indian Esports community going forward. We also hope that apart from virtual and simulated sports that happened in last year’s Olympic virtual esports series, prominent esports titles like DOTA 2, FIFA, Hearthstone, League of Legends and Valorant will also make their entry into this year’s event and further leverage the humongous audience base of competitive gaming around the world.”
Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India & Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF)
Lokesh Suji, AESF said, “After Esports being proposed as an official medal sport of AIMAG 2025, this news further fortifies the dawn of Esports as a mainstream sport in international multi-sport events. The combined efforts of numerous major international organizations along with the International Olympics Council (IOC) are bearing fruit for the global Esports community and giving them a platform to make their country proud by bringing laurels on the international stage. IOC, the apex body of sports continuing its engagement with esports is proof of the potential of esports and it is a phenomenon that cannot be ignored. We hope that Esports gets official recognition as a sport in India just like other countries as it will enable us to go full throttle and scale great heights in video gaming. Soon enough, every individual in the country will seek to be involved in this video gaming revolution and the day is not far when esports will also get included as a medal sport in Olympics just like Asian Games.”
Rohit Jagasia, Founder & CEO, Revenant Esports
Rohit Jagasia, Revenant Esports said, “The entire Esports fraternity will be rejoicing with this welcome news which has certainly been a result of the gaming community’s collective efforts spanning over the last few years. The inaugural edition of the Olympics Esports Week is a testament to global bodies realizing the value of gaming and giving it the recognition that it deserves. With the gaming industry in India growing at such a rapid pace and accumulating never seen before numbers in terms of revenue we can hopefully expect India to be one of the countries that have officially recognized Esports as a sport soon. It is about time that gaming gets included as an official medal sport at all major multi-sport events and it will be an immense pleasure to see India become a dominant force in it.”
Rohit Agarwal, Founder & Director, Alpha Zegus
Rohit Agarwal, Alpha Zegus, said, “After the great success last year, many gamers were looking forward to Olympic Esports week, and what better location than the commercial epicenter of Asia Pacific, Singapore! Fingers crossed for more opportunities for India now, and for more of our local and national teams to take part. Also, this will fuel the esports ecosystem and the sporting event further leverage the huge viewership base of competitive gaming around the globe.”
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) which builds on the successes of 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.
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