On March 1, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the nine games for its Olympic Esports Series 2023. The global virtual sports competition will feature titles in traditional sports disciplines like Archery and Chess. Here’s everything we know so far.
What is the Olympic Esports Series, and what games will it feature
The Olympic Esports Series 2023 is IOC’s next step towards integrating esports into its tradition. Previously, it had hosted the Olympic Virtual Series ahead of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. After 250,000 participants from over 100 countries participated, the IOC is taking things further.
"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."
Specifically, the IOC has announced the Olympic Esports Week as part of the Olympic Esports Series. Its final stages will take place at Singapore’s Suntec Centre from June 22 - 25. Cheering on by a live crowd and followed by fans through the Olympics.com stream, amateur and professional players will compete in the following games:
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Archery (Tic Tac Bow)
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Baseball (WBSC eBASEBALL)
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Chess (Chess.com)
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Cycling (Zwift)
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Dance (Just Dance)
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Motorsport (Gran Turismo 7)
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Sailing (Virtual Regatta)
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Taekwondo (Virtual Taekwondo)
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Tennis (Tennis Clash)
The event is organized in collaboration with relevant game publishers and sports bodies, such as the International Chess Federation.
Just Dance, Chess, and Gran Turismo stand out
While most of the Olympic Esports Series games are very niche, Just Dance, Chess, and Gran Turismo are likely to resonate the most with esports fans. Chess, in particular, has experienced a rise in popularity induced by the Netflix TV show “The Queen’s Gambit” in 2020. Since then, numerous Chess tournaments have been broadcast on popular live-streaming platforms.
The most-watched one was the FIDE World Championship 2021. With a prize pool of nearly $2.3 million, this offline event attracted over 610,000 Peak Viewers. Thanks to such audience numbers, Chess can compete with the popularity of more established esports. For example, the IEM Katowice 2021 has almost 600,000 PV.
However, Chess.com is also a notable organizer within the Chess community. Its Chess.com Pogchamps 3 competition pulled in nearly 380,000 Peak Viewers despite its much smaller prize pool of $100,000. Twitch Rivals has hosted its share of Chess events, too. The Twitch Rivals Chess.com Hand & Brain Showdown is the fourth most-watched Chess competition by PV.
Moreover, the Chess boom has paved the way for creators dedicated to the sport. The top Chess streamer of the last 30 days was GMHikaru. The Grandmaster player has over 1.7 million Twitch followers who watch his content for millions of hours every month. Similarly, Alexandra and Andrea Botez broadcast their Chess games to 1.2 million Twitch followers on their channel BotezLive. Fun fact: Both channels are signed with esports organizations — Hikaru with Misfits and the Botez sisters with OpTic Gaming.
Gran Turismo hasn’t quite made the same mark as Chess. The most popular among Gran Turismo competitions, the Red Bull Homestretch from 2020, reached less than 31,000 PV. The runner-up, the FIA GT Championships 2019 World Finals, attracted about 10,000 PV less. Still, the racing game has a loyal albeit niche esports audience.
The franchise’s current edition, Gran Turismo 7, has captured the attention of streamers on Twitch and YouTube. One of the scene’s prominent creators is the YouTuber TheKie25. He’s played the game for over 1,000 hours, during which his stream peaked at nearly 1,500 viewers. Rory Alexandar shares the same passion for Gran Turismo. The fellow YouTuber streams sim racing games almost every day. His Gran Turismo 7 content peaked at over 1,200 viewers.
Just Dance is rather known as a fun leisure activity than as an esport. But some devoted dancers have invested time and effort to master the franchise. For example, the professional dancer littlesiha has picked up Just Dance 2023 Edition on her Twitch channel. During the last 30 days, fans watched her dance moves for a total of 9,000 hours. The most-dedicated dancer of February was PedroPauloFO. The Twitch streamer played Just Dance for almost 60 hours but only reached 47 Peak Viewers.
Many voices in the esports community have criticized the IOC’s game choices for the Olympic Esports Series 2023. Most of these titles aren’t established esports disciplines, such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and League of Legends. Therefore, esports professionals fear that the event won’t authentically represent the esports spirit. It’s also uncertain how many fans of the chosen games are willing to participate in the competitions without a prize pool. We have to wait for further news to find out whether we’ll get to watch some familiar faces.
(Header via the International Olympic Committee)
