IOC President Thomas Bach announces plan to launch Olympic Esports Games

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the plan to launch the Olympic ESports Games on Saturday.

IOC President Thomas Bach made the announcement during the opening day of the two-day session of the 141st Congress of IOC Executive Board in Mumbai.

There are currently an estimated three billion people playing Esports across the world. There are more than 500 million more people interested in playing virtual sports.

“I have asked our new IOC Esports Commission to study the creation of Olympic Esports Games," Bach said on the sidelines of the IOC Congress.

“What is even more relevant to us: a majority of them are under the age of 34,” Bach added.

In 2018, the IOC organised the Esports Forum in Lausanne, followed by the set up of an Esports Liaison Group. In 2021, the IOC developed the Olympic Virtual Series. It was the IOC’s first pilot project in Esports.

“Building on the learnings from this Olympic Virtual Series, we then launched the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore earlier this year. In Singapore, we saw proof that our holistic approach is working. We successfully brought together the Olympic and the Esports communities,” Bach explained.

At the 2023 Olympic Esports Week, over 130 players worldwide competed in 10 mixed-gender category events. Meanwhile, the IOC's Olympic Esports Series generated more than six million views of live action over all channels, with 75 per cent of views from people aged 13 until 34.

Esports were also part of the recently concluded Asian Games in Hangzhou.