youhe Olympic Games announced their second esports series last week, meaning that by 2023, gaming will be a part of the world’s most revered sporting event. players can register for qualifying rounds, some of which are already underway. The series will culminate with a live event in Singapore in June, part of the first esports week of the Olympic Games, where qualifiers will compete in nine virtual sports.
This should be a huge moment that both the gaming and esports worlds would be celebrating. Instead, esports professionals have become desperate for the games that have been included. Rather than select well-established esports titles, the kind that are played in stadiums and where top players win six- or seven-figure prizes, the Olympic Games esports series has chosen titles that are sometimes sports-based. of the real world. Instead of Dota 2, Counter-Strike, Hearthstone, Valorant, or Overwatch, there will be a free-to-play archery game called Tic Tac Bow, Just Dance, the VR motion-tracking game Virtual Taekwondo, and Gran Turismo.
“For the average esports fan, their inclusion in the Olympic Games should have been a triumphant moment that represents a step forward for the community, which has grown from a few hundred players in the early 1980s to over 500 million this year”, says Matt Woods. from esports marketing and talent agency AFK. “Unfortunately, last week’s announcement left us disappointed and, honestly, a little embarrassed. Rather than work with existing game publishers or well-established tournaments, it appears the Olympic committee decided to use this event as a marketing vehicle for new and ill-thought-out unlicensed mobile games.”
I can see where Woods and his colleagues in the esports industry are coming from. People have made a living playing games professionally for decades, and especially in the last 10 years, esports has grown enough to support an entire industry of leagues, agencies, broadcasters, commentators, and support staff on many games. different. If you were trying to bring competitive gaming to an established sporting event like the Olympics, why not take advantage of this existing framework?
I’m skeptical of some of the absurd numbers that get thrown around when it comes to esports: competitive gaming is worth between $1 billion and 2 billion, with a global audience of between 200 and 600 million, depending on who you listen to and what. so cautious you are boastful of harassing investors. But there’s no denying that esports is popular and well established. The International Olympic Committee has shown little understanding of that world.
Some of the selected games are completely unknown. The Tic Tac Bow archery game, as Woods and other reviewers have noted, has a 1.9 star rating on the Google app store. Some of these games seek a realistic representation of the real sport, like the sailing game Virtual Regatta, while others are… well, Just Dance.
I asked the IOC about their approach to esports and how these games were selected. “The Olympic Games have always offered a diverse program, including those sports whose competitors do not benefit from the platform of other high-profile competitions,” a spokesperson responded. “To build a similarly diverse program for the 2023 Olympic esports series, we have partnered with international federations, who in turn propose game developer associations… It is important to us that featured games align with Olympic values. This includes the inclusion of participation, such as technical barriers to entry, the gender division of the player base and avoiding any personal violence, in the context of the IOC’s mission, which is to unite the world in peaceful competition.”
A simple explanation for the absence of Overwatch (above) or Valorant is that they are simply too violent. Almost every established esports game involves teams shooting or attacking each other, a fundamental concept of competitive gaming that is, sadly, completely contrary to the philosophy of the Olympic Games. Each of the nine selected games was suggested by the corresponding royal sports federation, which explains the variation in their nature and styles.
This is, it must be said, only the second time there has been a virtual component to the Games, and the IOC has said it hopes to add titles to the lineup in the coming weeks.
One thing that is clear is that the Olympic Games are using the word “esports” in a different way than the world of gaming would use it. For gamers, esports are elite competitive games that support leagues of professional gamers and audiences of millions. What the Olympic Games have brought together is instead a collection of sports-themed virtual sports, sports simulators, and arcade games. And honestly, they might be more fun to watch for a general viewer than, say, League of Legends, but the esports world is understandably upset.
what to play
Simon Parkin reviewed Birth last week, a spooky concept puzzle game that has me in equal parts intrigued and repulsed. It is about Frankensteining together with a companion of organs and bones found to calm your loneliness. “Birth is a game of symbols and sequences, of spotting the weird and fixing trivial things to solving deep things,” says Simon. “This is about the loneliness you can feel when you live in a big city, but it also comes clearly out of the pandemic lockdowns, the sense of disconnection most of us feel, and the strangeness of adjusting to reconnection. It is a warm, empathetic and melancholic search in which simplicity leaves room for meaning”.
Available in: PC/Mac
Approximate playing time: 2-3 hours
what to read
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Brendan Keogh beautifully explains why institutions and governments should look beyond how much money video games make when considering how to support them as part of the arts. “Game development should be treated as cultural work.,” he writes. “This does not mean simply defending the games that make money, but also defending all the practice and experimentation that can sometimes lead to new innovations and success stories.”
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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet the players are lose your save files after downloading the latest game updates. As the kids say, big yikes. If you have a prized collection of Shiny Pokémon, or a child who is very interested in their Quaxly, it is best to be cautious and avoid updating the game until Nintendo has fixed this problem.
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stone paper shotgun long interview with marc laidlawHalf-Life writer, well worth a read for Gordon Freeman disciples.
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martin doherty told the NME that his Scottish indie-electropop band Chvrches it would be “there in a second” if Hideo Kojima asked them to contribute music for another of his games. (The band composed the topic for Death Stranding.) Kojima, for his part, is being typically cautious.
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As Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues, Axios reports that Microsoft commissioned a YouGov survey to reassure UK regulators that the merger would not encourage PlayStation gamers to jump ship. He found that 3% of all PlayStation gamers would switch to Xbox if Call of Duty was made exclusive to Xbox. There’s something quite amusing about the fact that Microsoft has had to spend the last year trying to prove that its proposed acquisition is actually No as good a business move as it sounds.
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what to click
Stray and God of War Ragnarök lead nominations at Bafta game awards
From Ghostbusters and Aliens to Lego Star Wars: 10 Great Video Games Based on Movies
Star Players: How the little green aliens of the Kerbal Space Program are helping the spaceflight experts of the future
Hot Buttons: Why Fashion Houses Are Getting Into Video Games
block of questions
Reader Adam poses this week’s question: “I’ve been playing tunic for a moment, and this led me to think about instruction booklets and other non-digital accessories for games. What are your favorite examples of these and how have they improved the gaming experience for you?
Like all 1990s kids, I have a powerful nostalgia for the cardboard boxes games used to arrive in, sharp corners ready to scratch off, paper manuals inside with that new magazine smell. The first game I loved properly, Zelda: A Link to the Past, came with a manual that I read in bed until it fell apart, and a sealed hint booklet that promised answers to the game’s biggest mysteries. When I peeled off the sticker and took a look, I felt that I was about to unearth some dangerous and forbidden knowledge. I loved the evocative illustrations from the Zelda game manuals: Link facing off against a Deku plant, his sword caught mid-spin; interesting potion bottles; sly-looking characters I hadn’t met yet. In the days before game graphics could look as beautiful as pencil on paper, these manuals and guides really fueled the imagination. My favorite physical accessory, though, is a game map, the kind you find in the first few pages of a fantasy novel. For me, maps mean adventure. I still have some artwork from my favorite game worlds on my walls.
If you have a question for the question block, or anything else to say about the newsletter, please click reply or email us at [email protected].
