As announced by the eSports Inquirer, the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA) has successfully accredited competitive gaming as a Tier 2 sport by the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC), in addition to KeSPA affiliating themselves with the KOC. This marks a huge step towards the ratification of eSports into mainstream athletic competition, with Korea becoming the first country to acknowledge the gaming community as one of a magnitude capable of joining the Olympics.
So, the next question is, realistically, how far away are we from actually seeing eSports at the Olympics? For starters, I wouldn’t expect to see OpTic, TSM or anyone for that matter, competing in Brazil next summer as the sports for Rio 2016 have been confirmed a year in advance!
Unfortunately, Tokyo 2020 may also be an unrealistic goal as wrestling recently secured its place within the iconic sporting event, with several other Tier 2 sports such as Polo, Wakeboarding and Automobile Racing expressing their own personal interests. As a result, eSports will have to fend off serious competition for recognition by the Olympic governing body, the IOC, which is frustrating as Tokyo 2020 would have been a fantastic opportunity for eSports to capitalise upon Asia’s incredible market and fan base.
The response from the community has been less than positive however, with several members taking to Reddit to express their lack of enthusiasm. User /u/omarlobo stated ‘‘I'm all for the progression of eSports into mainstream culture. But it would feel wrong as an Olympic sport’’. Whilst many other ‘purists’ have stood firm on their design to maintain the Olympics as a truly physical/athletic structured event. Nevertheless, the public attention this announcement has already brought to light is truly incredible – who would’ve thought years ago that eSports would even vaguely be considered in this position?
If, in a hypothetical world, eSports did make it into the Olympics, it would be interesting to discuss which title would be considered as the main discipline. League of Legends, CS:GO and DOTA all seem like obvious candidates, with Call of Duty and Starcraft possessing an outside chance. However, games such as FIFA seem to be slightly out of reach – an imitation of a sport that is already not well recognised within the Olympic community is surely a recipe for disaster!
Personally, I never predicted this amount of rapid growth and I would still be very surprised if eSports were to be included at the Olympics in the near future. However, with continued growth and increased exposure, it may only be a matter of time before we witness competitive gamers representing their nationalities.
Perhaps this is what we require to bring a true World Championship of Gaming to the forefront of organisations and investors attention, our very own Olympics. No matter what, it’s an exciting time to be part of the eSports scene!
Let us know in the comments below which eSports you’d like to see in an Olympic format!
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