On May 13th, the Olympic Virtual Series, the first ever officially licensed virtual sports event in history, will officially open until June 23rd. This move is an important step taken by the International Olympic Committee in the field of e-sports, and is also regarded by many people as a new opportunity for e-sports to enter the Olympic family. Still very long. The
Virtual Series consists of five events.
The International Olympic Committee announced last month that it will launch the Olympic Virtual Series in partnership with its individual international sports organizations in baseball, cycling, rowing, sailing and racing, as well as game publishers. The IOC said the move was the first concrete action since "encouraging the development of virtual sports and further engagement with the video game community" was written into the Olympic 2020+5 Agenda in March.
The International Olympic Committee hopes to connect sports with the virtual game world through the holding of the series, so that more people can participate in sports through related devices without leaving their homes, and at the same time, it will add luster to the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games. In the eyes of IOC President Bach, the Olympic Virtual Series is a new and unique Olympic digital experience designed to increase direct contact with new audiences in the field of virtual sports. In addition to holding virtual series, the IOC also encourages the development of various forms of physical and intangible virtual sports in accordance with the Olympic 2020+5 Agenda.
"Embrace" E-Sports Traditional Sports First
The International Olympic Committee's launch of the Olympic Virtual Series has also made many people see the hope of e-sports entering the Olympics. As early as October 2017, after the International Olympic Committee recognized e-sports as a sport for the first time, the topic of e-sports entering the Olympics began to be hotly debated. In 2018, the International Olympic Committee established an e-sports and gaming liaison group to be responsible for e-sports and Olympic-related matters.At that time, some e-sports practitioners were optimistic that e-sports would enter the 2024 Paris Olympics, but in the end they failed to do so.
It is worth mentioning that the virtual series launched by the International Olympic Committee this time are all traditional sports, and there are no popular games such as "Cross Fire", "Honor of Kings" and "League of Legends" that are popular among young people. Fan Xiaobo, president of the Xi'an E-Sports Association, said in an interview that the virtual series sends a signal that those non-sports popular games are not considered by the International Olympic Committee. Fan Xiaobo believes that even if e-sports is successful in the Olympics in the future, it is very likely that it will be a combination of traditional sports and e-sports.
Why are popular games difficult to see?
Why are the above popular games difficult to see? Bach gave the answer as early as 2018, "We can't add those games that promote violence to the Olympic Games, which goes against the values of the Olympic Games." Bach even called these games "killing games." At the same time, he also mentioned the view that "the instability of the game vitality leads to the instability of the e-sports project". Indeed, at present, the gameplay and competitive strategies of these e-sports projects with high popularity, large number of participants and high commercial value often change with the adjustment of the game structure by developers. It may bring earth-shaking changes to the game. If it enters the Olympic Games, it cannot be guaranteed in terms of operability or fairness.
Fan Xiaobo is relatively optimistic about the entry of e-sports into the Olympics. In his view, with the further development of digital technology and other fields, it is the general trend for the Olympics to "embrace" e-sports.Regarding the topic of e-sports forming their own "Olympics", Fan Xiaobo believes that it is not impossible, but it will take a certain amount of time. It will take some time for the event to be widely recognized, and it will also take all parties to make it happen.”
Xi’an Press Omnimedia Chief Reporter Yan Bin
