Olympics Esports Will Not Include "Violent" Games

As of last year, the International Olympics Committee had publicly announced their interest and consideration of Esports as an event in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics. Citing Esports's impressive revenue numbers and engagement with younger audiences, the IOC are no doubt hoping to capitalize on the Esports industry's current track record of success.

Fans who are hopeful of seeing some of their favourite games and Esports veterans competing for Olympic Gold will be disappointed however, as the IOC will be shutting out any "violent" games from consideration.

In a recent interview, CEO of AliSports DaZhong Zhang, talks about the current expectations of a possible Esports Olympic event.

"In our communication with the Olympics committee, we’ve come to have a better understanding of their values, which is to promote peace... That’s why for the future development of eSports, we will focus more on titles that are actually related to sports, instead of games that focus on violence and slaughter."

Esports's current success is arguably tied to the industry's most popular games and franchises, with heavyweights such as League of Legends, Dota 2, CS:GO; as well as newer titles including Playerunknown's Battlegrounds and Arena of Valor. Unfortunately, none of these titles will be making a bid for the Olympics, as the IOC has deemed them as being too "violent" for general audiences.

It has been speculated that the IOC will be "leaning towards video games that directly simulate real-world sports, such as EA's FIFA and 2K Sports' NBA2K series".

As it stands, whether or not Esports will make its debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics remains to be seen. While many interested parties are excited about the potential of Esports in the prestigious Olympics arena, there still seems to be much resistance on the IOC's end for its inclusion.

The commercial success of Esports is no doubt the driving force behind the IOC's consideration for the event. But the generation gap between the IOC and younger Esports viewers is becoming more apparent in these clumsy negotiations, as the IOC doesn't seem to understand the lucrative appeal of the very games which are behind the Esports industry's success.

I for one, am definitely not interested in watching someone unironically pretend to be a world-class athlete in a "real-world sport simulator" at the same event that features actual world-class athletes competing live at the pinnacle of their sporting careers.