The Olympics are going to be something of a big deal this year, but the traditional sports may not be the focus of gamers. Announced to sit alongside the big sports event is the eGames, an eSports gaming tournament which will show off the best that “sport” has to offer. If all goes well, then this will be an ongoing tournament each Olympic year.
Check: The creator of Warcraft urged to include video games in the Olympics.
The eGames which were announced at the London Games Festival which was held April 6th will be a big international tournament with the expected big money prize that eSports tend to bring. Gaining support from the UK Government confirmed countries so far include Britain, US, Canada, and Brazil.
As we typically see from eSports events such as this, and as happens in more traditional sports tournaments national qualifiers will decide who will take part. These “squads” of players will be mixed-sex and feature professional gamers all over the age of 18.
Impressively the event’s big two-day finale will take place in Brazil itself in an aim to coincide with the Olympics, which in a way shows a desire for the computer based sport to gain the attention of the Olympics. This will no doubt raise the question as to whether it is a sport that should be included?
For many the argument may come down to the fact that they don’t believe it is a sport. If eSports cannot get classified as a sport in itself then they would not become part of the Olympics. With a limited number of events at the big event, it could be the case that eSports may have too big a fight on its hands to make it in.
What is good though is the fact that there will be the eGames themselves, which will not only raise attention but could become the “Olympics” of eSports. If the gaming phenomenon is left in the cold by the Olympics, there is no harm in the eGames being the remedy to that problem.
The eSports market would not have emerged as such a popular or thriving growth sector without the initial development of the sports betting market. In the meantime, William Hill Sports page is currently offering eSports matches like League of Legends that allow gamers to place bets like traditional sports.
eGames platforms offer a number of gaming options, including single-player and multiplayer compatible games available widely. These sites continue to thrive and have certainly contributed to the rise of eGames.
If eGames works, the sponsors will no doubt take notice. We already know that there is big money in eSports right now and the amount of money being pushed into this part of the gaming industry is huge. With the professional players putting on an entertaining show, this is something that has huge potential.
Another thing that will be just as important is the welfare of the players themselves and the tournaments too. Lately, we’ve seen issues with the quality of some tournament, this includes DOTA 2 which saw spectacular disasters when not handled right. Hopefully, this won’t happen at the eGames, and everything will go professionally.
eSports fans are going to be very excited about the prospect of the eGames, but hopefully, this will also pull in the more casual fan too. It may be too soon to know what coverage this event will have, but there will no doubt be streaming available for the world to watch. We’ll probably learn more about this nearer the time, will it be the Olympics of eSports? We’ll have to wait and see.
