“Dear IOC”: Considerations for the Governance, Valuation, and Evaluation of Trends and Developments in eSports

Abstract

In 2021, the International Olympic Committee ventured virtual space by launching their first ever Olympic Virtual Series – featuring virtual baseball, cycling, rowing, sailing and motor racing. Interestingly, all these virtual events take strongly after their physical counterparts. Which begs the question: Where are the massively popular esports games like Fortnite, League of Legends, and Dota?–What do the Olympic Virtual Series have that these popular video games do not? Here, we argue for the inclusion of esports within the Olympic program. In many respects, esports “act” and “behave” just like traditional sports. We argue that esports and traditional sports share many of the same values, like the values of meritocracy, competition, fair play, and the value of having a “level playing field”. Yet, in esports, many of these values remain underappreciated, losing out to negative values such as physical inactivity and game-addiction. To preserve what is worth preserving, we borrow from Value Sensitive Design to ameliorate the design-tensions that are foregrounded in esports. Thereby, paving possible ways toward the inclusion of esports in the Olympic program. Ultimately, the question for the IOC should not be “does it look like ‘real sport’, as we know it?”, but rather: are they sporting, rule-led, and fair activities worth preserving and setting an example for a new digitally savvy generation?

The eSports Medicine: Pre-Participation Screening and Injuries Management—An Update

“…ESports also require visual and attentional stamina [ 32 ]. Recently, vision issues likened to the use of digital screens have become a huge public health problem.…”

A milestone in the era of esports: The Olympics through the lens of virtual reality

“…Undoubtedly, the gaming industry is not going to disappear but may change its shape-affecting the global audience and especially the youth; research teams are obliged to conduct further work as technology does not look back (Polman et al, 2018). This paper should elicit awareness and invoke ideas of VR applicability in esports, and video games and potentially influence future (digital) events led by the IOC: if esports are on the road to the Olympics, could VR esports be a wildcard (Postma et al, 2022). Innovative and safe approaches are welcome and may largely mediate viewers, players, federations, research teams, and coaches to perceive the future of VR and esports, especially at imminent (e)sporting events such as the Olympics.…”

Esports and Olympic Games: a cross-cultural exploration of the player support behaviour towards the Olympics

“…One of these behaviours can be associated to the positive acceptance of a player towards including esports in the Olympic Games. Although it is not yet known whether esports epitomize the values and ideals promoted by the Olympic Movement (Pack and Hedlund, 2020), its relevance has been raised within the IOC and it is extremely relevant for sustainability of the esports market and industry (Postma et al. , 2022).…”

“…One of these behaviours can be associated to the positive acceptance of a player towards including esports in the Olympic Games. Although it is not yet known whether esports epitomize the values and ideals promoted by the Olympic Movement (Pack and Hedlund, 2020), its relevance has been raised within the IOC and it is extremely relevant for sustainability of the esports market and industry (Postma et al, 2022). Based on these assumptions, we developed a research model that explains the structural relationships between player emotional experience, in-game values perceived and their support intention for the Games.…”

“…Over the years, esports gamers and viewers have suggested that electronic gaming should be recognized as a sport and included in the Olympic programme (Lu, 2022). Their support behaviour can serve as a basis for greater emotional involvement in future Olympics despite esports' underlying public acceptance still being under-researched and even largely ignored (Postma et al. , 2022).…”