Over the past decade, the video game industry has managed to find a space within traditional sports through professional video game events known as eSports competitions and various other related initiatives.

Let’s dive straight in and take a close look at which games and eSports events have helped the video gaming industry become recognized as a legitimate sporting activity by organizations like the International Olympic Committee.

Does video gaming have a place in traditional sports?

Yes. Some forms of video gaming have become recognized as legitimate sporting activities by official organizations, authorities, and governing bodies, such as the International Olympic Committee.

The gaming industry has achieved this recognition through major eSports leagues and tournaments and various initiatives, and there has been a significant increase in the number of traditional sports clubs that have invested heavily in eSports teams.

Several major competitive video game events, such as the Esports World Cup and various Esports Olympic Events, have attracted some of the world’s most successful professional video gamers. Highly skilled individuals and teams battle it out in the digital arena to win cash prizes, global ranking points, trophies, serious bragging rights, and other digital and real-world prizes.

The eSports sector has emerged as a key area for sports brands to engage and interact with their fans, raise their global profiles, and expand their reach.

For example, French Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Spanish La Liga side FC Barcelona, English Premier League side Manchester City, German Bundesliga side FC Schalke, and Turkish Super Lig side Beşiktaş are all represented in the digital realm by their own official, branded eSports organizations.

A similar thing is happening in the NBA, NFL, NHL, and many other major sporting leagues around the world, as more clubs understand the importance of having a presence in the eSports sector.

Esports as a competitor to sports…

eSports is developing and growing at a rapid speed as more traditional sports infrastructure incorporates it – TV broadcasting, journalism, and iGaming.

Those three pillars bring eSports to a wider audience. TV broadcasting brings titles into households alongside the traditional leagues like the NBA, NFL, and Premier League. Journalism allows fans and casual audiences to consume narratives and facts outside of competitions and gamedays. iGaming platforms offer people the chance to scout ahead to future tournaments and check odds on outright winners as well as in-game events, all while having gaming titles native to their platforms available via new sign-ups to utilise online casino bonuses or established users.

Gaming as an industry can continue to evolve, and continue to potentially outstrip traditional sports because it has a far more versatile means of creating new games, new rules, and new fan engagement.

Which games are typically played in professional eSports events?

Some of the most notable games that have featured at professional eSports events and will continue to feature at them for many years to come are the following hit titles:

● Dota 2

● Valorant

● Overwatch

● Apex Legends

● Fortnite

● Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

● Call of Duty: Warzone

● PUBG: Battlegrounds (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds)

Other famous games that are also commonly played at today’s biggest eSports events are League of Legends, Rocket League, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone, Smite, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Minecraft, to name a few.

When are the Olympic eSports Games event?

According to various sources, the first-ever Olympic Esports Games will be a standalone event that will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2027.

It has come about thanks to collaborative efforts between the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC), the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

‘The Road to the Games’ is a series of Olympic eSports competitions events that will build up to the main event in Riyadh, and the overall aim of the Olympic eSports Games is to try and raise the profile of professional video game competitions and elevate it to the status that both the Winter and Summer Olympics enjoy.

The inaugural event will feature multiple virtual sports and video games, and the official governing bodies and organizers will focus heavily on collaborating with other well-established International Federations already involved in one capacity or another in e-versions of their respective sports disciplines.

The upcoming event will be inclusive and will include equal participation for male and female gamers. It’s expected to be a huge success, and if successful, it will be held biannually between the Winter and Summer Olympics.

Similar eSports events have taken place in other parts of the world, such as the 2023 Olympic eSports Week in Singapore. However, the 2027 Olympic Esports Games will likely eclipse this to help elevate eSports globally and attract younger audiences to the Olympic movement.

Final thoughts

Although gaming has found its space in traditional sports, the competitive eSports sector still faces many challenges, particularly concerning the recognition and standardization of esports and its inclusion in the Olympics.

However, the concept of video gaming has changed in recent years, and thanks to huge leaps forward in technology, professional video gamers who actively compete in today’s biggest eSports events are beginning to demonstrate similar athletic traits that traditional sports stars use in their respective sports.

Although being good at gaming requires competitiveness, practice, energy, skill, and focus, it’s not the same as what is needed to compete at the highest levels of traditional sports. Therefore, it’s unlikely that eSports will ever replace traditional sports.

However, this sector of the digital entertainment industry will continue to grow in terms of spectatorship/viewership and active participation, and it will continue to shape the future of entertainment. Major eSports events like this will gradually change the perception of what it means to be an athlete.