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Esports FAQ

The first Olympic Esports Week, taking place in Singapore from 22-25 June 2023, marks an important milestone in the IOC’s ambition to support the growth of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement.

The exciting new format of this virtual sports competition is an opportunity to collaborate further with esports players and to create new opportunities for players and fans alike.

The Olympic Esports Week will showcase the best of virtual sports with the four-day festival including all the live finals action from the Olympic Esports Series, the latest virtual sports, gaming and esports innovations and exhibition matches.

The highlight of the week will be the first in-person live finals of the Olympic Esports Series, a global virtual and simulated sports competition created in collaboration with the International Federations (IFs) which builds on the successes of the Olympic Virtual Series launched in 2021.

All information about participation can be found here.

  • The Olympic Esports Series 2023 is a global virtual and simulated sports competition, created in collaboration with International Federations (IFs) and game publishers.

    The Olympic Esports Series 2023 began 1 March 2023, with both professional and amateur players from around the world invited to take part in individual qualification rounds across each of the featured games.

    The Olympic Esports Series 2023 culminates in live, in-person finals at Singapore’s Suntec Centre, during the inaugural Olympic Esports Week 22 – 25 June.

    Fans worldwide will be able to follow the Olympic Esports Series 2023 action at Olympics.com and @Olympics.

  • The confirmed featured games across 10 sports include: 

    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 DanceSports Federation, JustDance) 

    Sailing (World Sailing, Virtual Regatta), 

    **Shooting **(International Sport Shooting, Created in Fortnight)

    Tennis (International Tennis Federation, Tennis Clash), 

    Taekwondo (World Taekwondo, Virtual Taekwondo) 

    Motorsport (Federation Internationale Automobile, Gran Turismo).

  • Singapore will host the inaugural Olympic Esports Week in June 2023, where the Olympic Esports Series finals will be held.

    Outside of the competition, the inaugural Olympic Esports Week – our festival of virtual sport and gaming being held in Singapore – is the opportunity to engage and explore technologies and games that go beyond this. For example, in the free to play zone and planned education forums.

  • A primary goal of the Olympic Agenda 2020 + 5 is to support and promote the development of virtual sports throughout the Olympic Movement. This is why we have focused first on virtual and simulated sports games in the competition series.

    The Olympic Games has always offered a diverse programme. In order to build a similarly diverse programme for the Olympic Esports Series 2023, we have partnered with International Federations (IFs), who in turn propose game developer partnerships. Although not currently sports on the Olympic programme, both chess and motorsports are recognised International Federations, so were invited to submit proposals to be part of the competition. 

    As is the case with the Olympic Games, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) was able to propose events on the programme for IOC consideration. The featured events put forward by the LOC of the Olympic Esports Week were Taekwondo and Archery. 

    When considering proposals, it is important to the IOC that the featured games in the Olympic Esports Series align with the Olympic Values. This includes participation inclusivity, such as technical barriers to entry, the gender split of player base and avoiding any personal violence,against the backdrop of the IOC’s mission which is to unite the world in peaceful competition.

  • The Olympic Esports Series 2023, is the second edition of the IOC’s global virtual competition, building on the successes of 2021’s Olympic Virtual Series where 250,000 people from across 100 countries participated. 

    The aim of the second edition of the series, where the number of events has already doubled, is to continue to create more spaces to play for both players and fans of elite competition, in line with the Olympic Agenda 2020 + 5, where supporting and promoting the development of virtual sports throughout the Olympic Movement and further connecting with gaming communities are goals. We look forward to welcoming some of the world’s best to compete on the global stage, as well as explore together shared opportunities and lessons - across health and wellbeing, training and innovation.

  • The Olympic Esports Series 2023 began on 1 March 2023, with both professional and amateur players from around the world invited to take part in qualification rounds across the featured games. 

    Each featured game across the nine sports had its own competition format and entry requirements. The qualification process for the Olympic Esports Week 2023 has concluded. 

    Seven games across the sports archery (Tic Tac Bow), baseball (WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS), chess (Chess.com), golf (PGA TOUR 2K23), sailing (Virtual Regatta), Tennis (Tennis Clash) and motorsport (Gran Turismo 7) had open entry and qualification rounds for the Olympic Esports Finals 2023.

    Taekwondo (Virtual Taekwondo) was an invitational event, with 16 of the best and upcoming Taekwondo athletes competing at the finals in Singapore.  

    In cycling (Zwift), the top 16 (8 female, 8 male) best performing virtual cyclists from the invitational Zwift Grand Prix cycling series and the 2023 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships are competing in an exhilarating new event format and a unique approach to mixed gender racing, at the live finals in Singapore.

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