Internet users and players were quick to express their deep disappointment with the “Olympic Esports Series”, a sort of esports Olympics which will take place in Singapore next June. Decryption with Laure Valée, consultant for franceinfo.
A thorny and controversial subject among esports players: the organization in Singapore of Olympic Esport Series, from June 22 to 25, a global competition for virtual sports and sports simulations, created in collaboration with International Federations (IFs) and video game publishers. The International Olympic Committee is on the move. And the games he has selected for competition leave esports fans and gamers alike puzzled.
franceinfo: First of all, which Games are represented?
Laura Valee: The Games represented are not games that we, as esports fans, would have expected. In this case, it is simulation of archery, baseball, chess. We also talk about cycling, dancing, motor sports, tennis and taekwondo. So many traditional sports, but these Olympic Esport Series are indeed really debating.
Where have the very popular League of Legends Or Rocket League that we often talk about here?
This is precisely what we ask ourselves. What was the choice here? Why did the IOC lean towards this kind of choice? The problem, precisely, when we talk about esports at the Olympic Games, generally, is that we say to ourselves: which games to represent esports?
The worry of taking League of Legends or one Rocket League, and maybe abandon a Counter-Strike, shooting game, or a FIFA, based on football, is that communities would feel sidelined. So here, the IOC has chosen to opt precisely for sports simulations which most often involve a physical dimension, and which are therefore very far from what we know in esports.
And why does the IOC make its choices? Is this understood elsewhere in the sports world?
It’s not exactly understood. It’s true that it’s something that we have trouble seeing, once again, the question of esports at the Olympic Games, it’s quite tricky. We really wanted to see a competition on the sidelines of the Olympics, but with games that represent us more.
The difficulty today is that the IOC may not necessarily be in contact with people in the esports industry, or they may not listen to what they are told, or all simply the IOC wants esports choices that resemble the values of the IOC, therefore the values of sport. And that’s why we have results that are very far from what we could have hoped for, when we are a fan of video games today.
Does that mean we won’t see any big esports teams there?
We won’t see big esports teams, but we may see esports people we know. I am thinking of Dina, precisely, who is a player of just dance, a French multiple world champion. I hope we will have the opportunity to find her at the Olympic Esports Series in Singapore. But in any case, yes, the Fakers and the great esports players, for sure they won’t be there.
The IOC has indicated that this sketch of Olympic Games of electronic sport could take place every year from now on. And Paris is a candidate to host the competition next year, at the same time as the 2024 Olympics.