eSports might be getting a bit closer to the coveted spot at the Olympics! A new international gaming tournament, dubbed eGames, will be making its debut appearance at the Olympic games in Rio this year. Launched as part of the London Games Festival on April 6th 2016, the players at these Olympic eSports will be battling for medals and national pride as opposed to cash prizes. So far, Britain, Canada, USA, and Brazil have been selected as starter eTeams due to their “existing gaming relationships.”
The competition is not only backed by the UK government but will also be run by the just-as-new International eGames Committee (IEGC). The IEGC has “an International Advisory Board to assist with instilling good governance, responsible competitive video gaming and ensuring the competition and National Qualifiers are inclusive and diverse.”
Each country will have a national squad, dubbed an eTeam, of both male and female gamers playing in team and individual games. During Olympic years, the full eGames tournaments will be held with the first in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018 and Tokyo, Japan in 2020.
During non-Olympic years, National Qualifiers will be held domestically to determine each country’s participants for their eTeam. The organization is non-profit and as such The Advisory Board will also decide which gaming charities will be donated to.
The eGames showcase will be a two-day “pop-up” in Rio during the Olympic games in an effort to “showcase the eGames movement to the world, especially to mainstream media – with the aim of promoting competitive video gaming to the non-gamer population.” The eGames showcase will take place at British House, Parque Lage, in Rio, Brazil. Wim Stocks, the Chief Operating Officer of the International eGames Group, had the following to say about the upcoming showcase:
“We are honoured to have been invited by the UK Government to be in the British House to show the eGames to the world. The venue is truly special and completely unique, the same qualities of which will be emulated in the eGames.”
