Olympics will host esports events without esports games

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Olympics will host esports events without esports games

Pop quiz: If you were planning an esports event for the Olympics, what games would you feature - Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike' Quake 3 Arena, or something else that would make for a spectacular show?

They probably won't feature legendary titles like Tic Tac Bow (opens in new tab), a free-to-play mobile game released last month and currently rated 1.9 out of 5 in the Google Play store. Nor will it pick Tennis Clash (opens in new tab), which has been criticized for its "vicious and looting" loot box mechanic in the latest review. Gran Turismo has yet to earn its own Liquipedia (opens in new tab) hub page, despite being a higher-profile title than the other two.

But that is the difference between ordinary people like you and me and the organizers of the Olympics. They have decided to feature all these games as part of the Olympic Esports Week (opens in new tab), which will be held in Singapore from June 22 to 25 this year. These are not the only games that will be featured. Spectators around the world will be excited to see challengers competing in Just Dance, Chess (via Chess.com), and Zwift (an app for indoor cycling enthusiasts like Peloton). Plus, they'll also compete in Virtual Taekwondo, Virtual Regatta, and WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros" (opens in new tab) (99 cents on Switch and PS4, so congratulations to the organizers for grabbing a bargain). [Although Olympic esports week is merely an event organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it remains a rather baffling selection of games if you know a thing or two about actual esports.

I mean, sure, you probably wouldn't expect the literal Olympics to suddenly start staging all the matches of "League of Legends," although it would be interesting. Both spectators and organizers need to be introduced to the idea that virtual sports can also be sports, and virtual recreations of already existing competitions are a good way to fill the gap. But surely it can be better than microtransaction-ridden mobile games, cycling apps, and just dancing.

We have asked the organizers for comments on this article and will update this post when we hear back.

It all feels pulled out of the hat, creating something that will mystify traditional sports fans and disappoint esports devotees, but is perhaps a clumsy sign of things to come. Interest in the Olympics has waned in recent years (opens in new tab), and organizers are probably scrambling around desperately for something to get people's attention back. It probably won't be Tic Tac Bow, but perhaps these odd mobile games are just the first step on the road to eventually seeing esports that people actually care about at Olympic-related events, or even at the Olympics themselves.

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