The International Olympic Committee is partnering with international sports federations and developers to bring gaming to the Olympics via the new Olympic Esports Series.
Qualifiers in nine esports titles get underway this week and run through May 15, with the finals taking place live in Singapore from June 22-25.
"In line with the Olympic Agenda, our primary goal is to support and promote the development of virtual sports throughout the Olympic Movement," an IOC spokesperson told Sports Business Journal. "This is why we have focused first on virtual and simulated sports games in the Olympic Esports Series. For this, we partner with international federations, who in turn propose game developer partnerships."
The IOC is interested in expanding into gaming, but only with "games that align with the Olympic values," a spokesperson told Sports Business Journal.
The nine federations and accompanying games are:
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, Just Dance); MotorSport (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, Gran Turismo); Sailing (World Sailing, Virtual Regatta); Taekwondo (World Taekwondo, Virtual Taekwondo) and Tennis (International Tennis Federation, Tennis Clash).
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