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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has named Singapore as the host of its inaugural Olympic Esports Week.
An agreement with the country’s ministry of culture, community and youth, alongside the Singapore National Olympic Committee (SNOC), will see the event make its debut in June 2023.
The Olympic Esports Week will comprise of virtual sports, as well as hybrid physical and simulated disciplines. The event will also feature a four-day festival showcasing the latest gaming technologies, with panel discussions, educational sessions and demonstration matches. The event’s centrepiece will be the Olympic Esports Series, an international gaming competition developed in collaboration with international sports federations (IFs).
Last year, the Olympics body made its first strides into esports with an official IOC Virtual Series seeing more than 250,000 participants from 100 countries compete in virtual and simulated sports events.
“The first Olympic Esports Week marks an important milestone in our ambition to support the growth of virtual sports within the Olympic movement,” said IOC president, Thomas Bach.
“We believe the exciting new format of our virtual sports competition, with live finals to be staged for the first time, is an opportunity to collaborate further with esports players and to create new opportunities for players and fans alike.
“It is a perfect opportunity to be partnering with Singapore, which has a history of supporting innovation in the Olympic movement, hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, so we are looking forward to working together closely.”
Ng Ser Miang, vice president of the IOC and SNOC board member, added: “The Singapore NOC shares the Olympic Movement’s ambitions of exploring the development of virtual sports.
“Singapore has a track record of successfully hosting some of the biggest events in the virtual sports and esports calendar – we are honoured to be collaborating with the IOC to bring this shared vision to life.”
