Could Esports Be Included in the Olympics?
The debate around whether Esports should be part of the Olympics continues, and Micron's Ballistix brand surveyed more than 1,000 British, French and German gamers on the matter.
According to the survey, when asked whether Esports - a form of competition using video games - should be an event in the Olympics, 35% of respondents said yes. Less than half (45%) believe Esports should not be part of the Olympics, while 20% are yet to make up their mind.
Splitting the results across each country showed that 35% of UK gamers, 31% of German gamers and 38% of French gamers were in favour of Esports being part of the Olympics.
Paris 2024 Summer Olympics is in sight for Esports after the International Esports Federation recently revealed that they are in talks with Paris 2024 Summer Olympics organisers about including Esports as a demonstration sport.
Many European gamers are also shown to be interacting with Esports as further findings from the survey revealed that more than one in 10 gamers (12%) participate in Esports and two in five European gamers (40%) watch Esports.
Patrick Soulliere, Global Esports and Gaming Marketing Manager at Ballistix, commented: "Despite the ongoing debate and controversies surrounding the topic, it’s great to see a strong presence of gamers who are eager for Esports to be included in the Olympics. Esports is becoming much more mainstream and, as it continues to do so, it's likely only a matter of time until it becomes part of the Olympics”
The “Esports industry has rapidly professionalised in the recent years, with gamers and teams to prepare in a much more considered and scientific fashion. For those not familiar, just like sport athletes, Esports gamers have theur own nutritionists to help consult us on what to eat before competitions to maximise our performance during game play.
Of course, we cannot say that their preparation could be compared to those of real Olympic athletes.
In any case, the reference to the Olympics could be seen as a benchmark that Esports competition is reaching levels similar the Olympics.