Olympic Esports Week 2023 – International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirms Singapore as the host of the first Olympic Esports Week: The Global Esports community has something to cheer as International Olympic Committee, commonly known as IOC officially confirms that Singapore will host its inaugural Olympic Esports Week between 22 June to 25 June 2023. This release certainly marks the stepping stone in supporting the development of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement and engaging further with competitive gamers from different parts of the globe. Here’s all you need to know about the event and its features. For future updates on Esports and Gaming, follow InsideSport.IN
Olympic Esports Week 2023
IOC partnered with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Sport Singapore, and the Singapore National Olympic Committee (SNOC) to introduce Olympic Esports Week which will showcase the best of virtual sports – hybrid physical and simulated sports. The four-day festival will exhibit the latest technologies, panel discussions, education sessions, and show matches.
Meanwhile, the major 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). The competition builds on the successes of last year’s Olympic Virtual Series. The 2021 series gathered over 250,000 participants from across 100 countries to take part in competitions in virtual and simulated sports including baseball, motorsport, cycling, rowing, and sailing.
IOC & SNOC react
Talking about the announcement, IOC President Thomas Bach said:
“The first Olympic Esports Week marks an important milestone in our ambition to support the growth of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement. 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.”
SNOC Board member and IOC Vice-President Ng Ser Miang asserted:
“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.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) further confirmed that the details, including how to be part of the first Olympic Esports Week and Olympic Esports Series, would be revealed in early 2023.
