Well, it has finally happened: the eGames, a video game Olympics has been announced, complete with medals and national competition, and it will take place every four years alongside the actual Olympics, beginning with Rio 2016.
Backed by the UK government, the eGames will apparently be run by their own Olympics-style governmental body, the International eGames Committee (IEGC) – frankly, we’re not sure if, in light of corruption allegations plaguing other sporting governments, namely FIFA, creating another faceless bureaucracy is such a good move for gaming. But hey, it’s still a move forward for the … sport?
Announced at this week’s London Games Festival, the eGames have so far secured the participation of Britain, Canada, the USA and Brazil. They will take place, as expected, alongside the Olympic games in the Olympic host city – but one twist is that they will be in both the Winter and Summer games. Presumably, they will divide the types of games according to winter or summer seasons, but that is speculation at this point.
According to the official website, this year’s inaugural Rio eGames will be a two-day pop-up tournament in Brazil “to showcase the eGames to the world of competitive gaming and attract further partners.” There is no word yet on what exact games will be on the eGames roster, but we will let you know as we learn more.
eSports, as we have reported recently, are fast becoming a huge business, not only in video games but in the sports industry as a whole. Top players can make huge incomes, and sports industry giants such as ESPN have begun to include eSports along with their traditional sports coverage. The eGames will award only medals, and not money – but the sponsorship deals and other payoffs of winning will likely mirror those of the actual Olympics before long.
Stay tuned here for more on this and other eSports stories as they develop.