Created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in collaboration with International Federations (IFs) and game publishers, the Olympic Esports Series 2023 has kicked off qualification rounds today across multiple games.
This year’s Olympic Esports Series will commence on March 1st and culminate in live, in-person finals “for the first time.” It’ll allow both professional and amateur players from across the globe the opportunity to participate in the qualification rounds and progress to the 2023 Olympic Esports Finals.
Speaking about the importance of the Olympic Esports Series, 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”.
After the qualification rounds have concluded, the inaugural Olympic Esports Week will commence in Singapore from 22-25 June 2023 at the country’s Suntec Centre in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Sport Singapore and the Singapore National Olympic Committee (SNOC).
Confirmed games and sports
This year’s event has a total of 9 confirmed games and sports activities including:
- Archery (Tic Tac Bow)
- Baseball (WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS)
- Chess (Chess.com)
- Cycling (Zwift)
- Dance (Just Dance)
- Motorsport (Gran Turismo)
- Sailing (Virtual Regatta)
- Tennis (Tennis Clash)
- Taekwondo (Virtual Taekwondo)
“Participation of Gran Turismo in the Olympic Esports Series 2023 is something we are very happy about and it is great for fans of GT and the community,” said producer of the Gran Turismo series Kazunori Yamauchi at an event held at Olympic House in Lausanne.
“What we’re seeing is something that, for us, began when we started GT Academy in 2008 when we were trying to go from virtual to real-world racing, and we saw them as two distinct things. Ten years on and we are seeing the landscape of sport evolving with more places that the virtual and real worlds meet.”
How to participate or watch
Six games across the sport, archery, baseball, chess, sailing, tennis and motorsport, will have open entry and qualification rounds. Taekwondo, however, is an invitation-only event, where 16 of the best upcoming athletes will be invited to compete at the finals in Singapore.
Cycling will see the top eight women and men compete in a new event format, with a unique approach to a mixed-gender racing event. While participation and the qualification process varies by game, most events have open, worldwide qualifiers. Further details on requirements and qualification procedures can be found on the official Olympics pages.
In addition, each of the aforementioned games across the nine sports has specific entry location requirements. Esports fans can follow the action from the Olympic Esports Series 2023 from the Olympics site as well as their respective social handles.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
