Current Events > Esports may be considered too violent for the Olympics.

(+) Yeah! (+)

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach explained the Games had recently made a push to bring in new sports that appeal to millennials, such as skateboarding and surfing.

Given the recent rise of esports with young people – a demographic the Olympics has been losing in recent years – it makes sense that the committee might consider bringing them to the Games as well. However, despite the popularity, it's currently being cautious about making the jump.

"We want to promote non-discrimination, non-violence, and peace among people," Bach said. "This doesn't match with video games, which are about violence, explosions and killing. And there we have to draw a clear line."

The president certainly has a point. A lot of popular esports have some form of violence as a main game mechanic. Currently a lot of the top esport games are either fighters or first person shooters. The latter especially is not exactly in line with the Games' initiative of bringing the world's countries together for a week of celebration and sport.

That doesn't discredit esport games more in line with the "Olympic values," or video games closer to games already in the Olympics, though.

"So if ever somebody is competing at playing football virtually or playing other sports virtually, this is of high interest," Bach said. "We hope that, then, these players are really delivering sports performance."

Despite these hesitations, the committee is certainly talking about bringing esports to the Games, perhaps even to the 2024 Paris Olympics, though Bach says it's too early to say anything definitive.

"These discussions are going on. It will still take some time because this industry is now shaping itself," he added. "It's a successful industry, but it is not yet really established in an organizational way. ... You have to have somebody who is guaranteeing you that these athletes doing video sports games are not doped, that they are following technical rules, that they are respecting each other."

If it can make it work, esports could be a lucrative addition for the Olympics. The esports industry has seen a meteoric rise in the past decade, making an estimated $500 million in total revenue in 2016.


http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/esports-may-come-to-the-olympics-but-not-if-theyre-violent-w500765

Hm...
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memed
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I just wish people would stop feeling like they need to compare video games to sports in order for competitive gaming to be validated. It can be validated by simply being its own thing.
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Can't they have like racing
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Apocalyptic posted...

Currently a lot of the top esport games are either fighters or first person shooters.

You mean like judo? Or boxing? Or taekwondo? Or greco-roman wrestling?

-_-
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weapon_d00d816 posted...

I just wish people would stop feeling like they need to compare video games to sports in order for competitive gaming to be validated. It can be validated by simply being its own thing.

This. It's like how people used to positively compare games to movies as a form of validation. To be far though, this isn't unusual with new form of media.
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I just don't think young people are ever going to care about the olympics again. The only reason I watched it as a kid is because we only had the one TV

Plus it's a pain in the ass to watch when it's hosted in a time zone halfway around the world. It's way easier to just watch online after
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I can easily understand shooters being excluded, but (non-bloody, IE no Mortal Kombat) fighting games are no more violent than some of the sports that are already in the Olympics. Fighters... MOBAs... sports games... whatever the hell Rocket League is... those would easily be okay.
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So Rocket League
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Smash Bros got it handled don't worry guys
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KlRBEH posted...

Smash Bros got it handled don't worry guys

Can't wait for Zero to drop a swear word again like he did on Disney XD at Evo 2017.
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yeah because boxing is like playing dominoes.
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Aristoph posted...

You mean like judo? Or boxing? Or taekwondo? Or greco-roman wrestling?

-_-

Those don't go over the top with ultra-violence
that Westerners (mostly Americans) have become highly desensitized to, by the way
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Bok_Choi posted...

Aristoph posted...

You mean like judo? Or boxing? Or taekwondo? Or greco-roman wrestling?

-_-

Those don't go over the top with ultra-violence
that Westerners (mostly Americans) have become highly desensitized to, by the way

Exactly. Most martial arts as competitive sports aim to score points, not turn their opponent's face into raw meat.
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My issue with e-sports in the Olympics is: who chooses which games? It's not like basketball or archery where there's a standardized set of rules and only the venues change.
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Antifar posted...

My issue with e-sports in the Olympics is: who chooses which games? It's not like basketball or archery where there's a standardized set of rules and only the venues change.

can u imagine china pouring money into a lobby to have LoL has 1 of the games because they have the strongest LoL team?

game choice would be pretty odd for something like this i think
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myzz7 posted...

can u imagine china pouring money into a lobby to have LoL has 1 of the games because they have the strongest LoL team?

LoL is also the 2nd most popular esport so I don't know if China would have to lobby to get that in.

Regardless of violence, why would the typical Olympics viewers ever want to sit around and watch a bunch of nerds play video games in the first place?
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UnholyMudcrab posted...

why would the typical Olympics viewers ever want to sit around and watch a bunch of nerds play video games in the first place?

Your typical Olympics viewer isn't' even a sports fan so...