On March 1st, the IOC announced the Olympic Esports Series 2023 with some details, including its list of (esports) games.
These are the games confirmed to be featured in the event:
- Archery (World Archery Federation, Tic Tac Bow)
- Baseball (World Baseball Softball Confederation, WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS)
- Chess (International Chess Federation, Chess.com)
- Cycling (UCI, Zwift)
- Dance (World DanceSport Federation, JustDance)
- Motor sport (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, Gran Turismo)
- Sailing (World Sailing, Virtual Regatta)
- Taekwondo (World Taekwondo, Virtual Taekwondo)
- Tennis (International Tennis Federation, Tennis Clash)
Olympic Esports Finals 2023 will take place at Singapore’s Suntec Center on 22 to 25 June. In its official post, David Lappartient, Chair of the IOC Esports Liaison Group, said: “The Olympic Movement brings people together in peaceful competition. The Olympic Esports Series 2023 is a continuation of that, with the ambition of creating more spaces to play for both players and fans of elite competition. We look forward to witnessing some of the world’s best compete on the global stage, as well as exploring together shared opportunities and lessons – across health and wellbeing, training and innovation.”
The list of supposed to be esports games
Anyway, if you’re following the current esports scenes, you will find it weird that there is no popular esports title featured in the Olympic Esports Series 2023. Let’s briefly take a look at each game featured in this supposed to be the esports event from the Olympic Games.
Tic Tac Bow
This is a mobile game which tries to combine archery and tic-tac-toe, hence the name. At the time of this writing, it only has 100+ downloads on Google Play. I can’t find any video on YouTube about this game also, and I’m sorry I don’t want to download this on my phone either. LOL…
WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS
Next, we have a console game. The POWER PROS is available on PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. It’s a bit cartoony, which is a bit weird for the Olympics (although I personally like its graphic style), but it’s definitely so much better than the previous game. Despite having interesting gameplay, I don’t think I have ever heard of its esports scene before. Maybe it’s just me.
Chess.com
This is a regular chess game and it has no weird quirk or fantasy-esque style and gameplay (unlike the previous games). I think this game is really suitable to be featured in an Olympic event.
Zwift
The UCI Cycling Esports World Championships was held for the first time in December 2020 and it has been using the Zwift platform. Zwift is virtual training for running and cycling. You need some sort of cycling machine or indoor cycling bike and connect it to the Zwift app to play this. I think this is the most suitable and expected choice in this list.
Just Dance
Technically, Just Dance is a rhythm game published by Ubisoft in 2009. Although, I think the IOC refers to Just Dance as a game series. Meaning, it’s not clear which Just Dance game will be featured in the event. The latest game on consoles is the Just Dance 2023 Edition (Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S) but there is also Just Dance Now which doesn’t require you to have a console.
Anyway, even though it’s one of (if not) the most popular rhythm games out there, I don’t think it has esports scenes before this (CMIIW).
Gran Turismo
I think this is the most popular game on this list. I don’t think I need to explain what this game is. Also, unlike the previous game, this time the IOC specified that GT7 is the one that will be featured in the event. However, even though it’s definitely one of the best and most popular racing games, its esports scenes are not comparable to LoL, Dota 2, VALORANT, Mobile Legends, etc.
Virtual Regatta
Similar to Zwift, Virtual Regatta is quite popular in its niche market. eSailing World Championship is an annual competition, first held in 2018, that uses Virtual Regatta. I think this is also an obvious choice, although I can’t understand how it works and how to play the game. Unlike Zwift, I don’t think you need a boat in your living room though…
Virtual Taekwondo
Now, it gets weird again. I don’t think the game has been released. I can’t find much info on this. I just can find a video from World Taekwondo featuring this supposed to be Virtual Taekwondo.
As you can see in the video, the graphics look like a joke. I mean it’s not intentionally made cute like the baseball game above. Nevertheless, it could be a great game – gameplay-wise. Who knows?
Tennis Clash
Tennis Clash is another mobile game on this list. I think the game looks decent and realistic in terms of gameplay. However, I wonder why it’s chosen when there are so much better tennis games on consoles.
Check out my other article: Street Fighter Esports in 2023 Shows Bright Promise
Why is it weird?
So, I get why many people from the esports and gaming community think the list is weird. For the gaming and esports communities, there are only 2 popular games (Just Dance and Gran Turismo) but they are not popular as esports titles.
Furthermore, for me, it’s weird because the reasons for choosing the games are a bit random. There are obvious and logical choices in this list such as Chess.com, Zwift and Virtual Regatta. Yet, I don’t think Gran Turismo is also considered the most realistic for sim racing enthusiasts and communities. rFactor 2, iRacing, and Assetto Corsa are more popular for those niche markets. However, Gran Turismo is definitely more popular in the mainstream gaming market.
WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS is by no means a bad game but it’s not the most realistic baseball game out there. Tennis Clash is decent but it’s definitely not the best tennis game currently. Tic Tac Bow and Virtual Taekwondo? No comment…
For Just Dance, I think the game is a great choice but I just don’t understand why dancing is included in the Olympic event when breakdance will just debut in Olympic Games 2024 (or maybe that could be the reason). Meanwhile, football (soccer) and basketball, which are popular sports and also have great games, are not included in this event.
Why is it okay?
So, why do I think that it’s okay for the esports in the Olympic Games to be this weird? Because it doesn’t matter. It’s not relevant. I wrote an article about esports in sports events years ago. You can read it if you want more details but, in short, esports doesn’t need it.
Most people think esports need to be included in sports events to gain legitimacy. However, I think there are so many more effective ways to gain legitimacy, other than to be included in ‘traditional’ sports events. Moreover, popular esports titles already have their own world-class and international championship. They don’t need more of them. Most esports enthusiasts won’t watch them either way. I mean Dota 2 esports fans would definitely prefer to watch Major or TI, compared to watching it in the Olympics or any other sports event (if it was there).
In my opinion, it’s the other way around. Multi-sports events such as the Olympics, Asian Games, or any other are losing viewers from time to time. The viewers are also getting older throughout the years. So, they need to bring some spectacles for the younger audiences.
Therefore, if they want it weird, I don’t have any problem with it.
Feat Image: Courtesy of Konami
