The Future of Olympic eSports Depends on Non-Violent Competitive Games
In an interview with the Associated Press last week, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said that any esports games featured in the Olympics would have to be non-violent.
“We cannot have in the Olympic program a game which is promoting violence or discrimination,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “So-called killer games. They, from our point of view, are contradictory to the Olympic values and cannot therefore be accepted.”
However, the Associated Press noted that Bach is a former Olympic fencer and that fencing is a sport that uses swords. Fencing involves violence so why should esports games with violence be disallowed from the Olympics?
“Of course every combat sport has its origins in a real fight among people,” Bach explained. “But sport is the civilized expression about this. If you have egames where it’s about killing somebody, this cannot be brought into line with our Olympic values.”
Considering that several of the most popular esports games in the world right now (such as Fortnite and Overwatch) involve some kind of shooting or violence, the chances of a game with a big esports scene becoming an Olympic event currently seem pretty slim.
What do you think of Bach’s comments? Go ahead and share your thoughts in the comments section below!