Keep your medals: Why esports doesn’t need the Olympics

TL;DR Esports attracts younger audiences, outpacing traditional sports, with events like League of Legends Worlds drawing 6.94 million viewers. The Olympics’ focus on virtual sports like archery, not popular titles like Counter-Strike, feels out of touch with esports fans. Esports boasts massive prize pools, like The International’s $40 million, surpassing Olympic prestige. Governance clashes, as … Continued The post Keep your medals: Why esports doesn’t need the Olympics appeared first on Esports Insider.

May 4, 2025 - 15:24

Keep your medals: Why esports doesn’t need the Olympics

A triumphant esports player holding a game controller above their head in front of a cheering crowd in a packed arena, celebrating victory and the cultural power of esports

TL;DR

Esports attracts younger audiences, outpacing traditional sports, with events like League of Legends Worlds drawing 6.94 million viewers.
The Olympics’ focus on virtual sports like archery, not popular titles like Counter-Strike, feels out of touch with esports fans.
Esports boasts massive prize pools, like The International’s $40 million, surpassing Olympic prestige.
Governance clashes, as esports are owned by companies like Riot Games, not federations, complicate Olympic integration.
The fast-evolving nature of esports conflicts with the Olympics’ slow, traditional structure.
Olympic inclusion risks diluting esports’ authenticity by enforcing strict rules on violence, branding, and game selection.

News around the addition of esports in the Olympics continues to divide opinions in the gaming community. But it’s not hard to see why esports is becoming attractive to traditional sporting organizations.

Younger audiences are moving away from conventional sports, forcing the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to explore new ways of remaining relevant.

Will they succeed in their efforts?

Virtual sports simulations are not exactly what esports fans want

The Olympic Esports Week in Singapore in 2023 was the first indication that the IOC took gaming culture seriously. Sadly, rather than featuring the esports titles that dominate Twitch and YouTube, like League of Legends or Counter-Strike, they played it safe with an esports Olympics games list consisting of “virtual sports” simulations like archery, cycling, tennis, sailing, and baseball.

The difference was not lost on the esports community, where there is little interest in rebooting the Olympic-style titles that have not been played since the analog days of the Commodore 64. The IOC seemed a little out of touch with an offering that felt like a sanitized “gaming lite” event rather than a true celebration of esports.

Despite the criticism, the Olympic Esports Week was deemed a success. The suits at the IOC quickly revealed plans for an official Olympic Esports Games that were initially scheduled for 2025 in Saudi Arabia, highlighting a determination to make it work.