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Esports industry stakeholders react to the Esports becoming an official medal sport in Olympics and Asian Games
- Rohit Agarwal
- February 2, 2023
The announcements mark the next major step in supporting the development of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement and engaging further with competitive gamers.
The announcement marks the next major step in supporting the development of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement and engaging further with competitive gamers.
Not to forget, esports is going to make its debut at the Asian Games 2022 as a proper medal event, earlier in 2018 it was there as a demonstration title. The Asian Games 2022, originally scheduled for September this year, will now be held from September 23 to October 8, 2023. Recently, The Indian DOTA 2 team produced a power-packed performance to clinch the bronze medal at the first-ever Commonwealth Esports Championship 2022 in Birmingham.
Here is what the esports industry stakeholders have to say about the development.
Animesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, 8bit Creatives, India’s leading esports consulting and talent agency & an ex-esports athlete:
“While the Esports community is wondering about the next and the best possible steps to integrate Esports into the Olympics as well as other multi-sports global events, this inaugural edition of the Olympic Esports Week will surely play a crucial role in establishing esports /virtual sports as an integral part of the sporting universe. With International Olympic Committee (IOC) taking this concrete initiative it is imperative that we as the esports community start having the right dialogues with the stakeholders that matter. I must add that we are fortunate to experience the change, which also means it is our responsibility to create a strong and unified voice for the Indian Esports community going forward.
We also hope that apart from virtual and simulated sports that happened in last year’s Olympic virtual esports series, prominent esports titles like DOTA 2, FIFA, Hearthstone, League of Legends and Valorant will also make their entry into this year’s event and further leverage the humongous audience base of competitive gaming around the world.”
Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India & Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF):
After Esports being proposed as an official medal sport of AIMAG 2025, this news further fortifies the dawn of Esports as a mainstream sport in international multi-sport events. The combined efforts of numerous major international organizations along with the International Olympics Council (IOC) are bearing fruit for the global Esports community and giving them a platform to make their country proud by bringing laurels on the international stage. IOC, the apex body of sports continuing its engagement with esports is proof of the potential of esports and it is a phenomenon that cannot be ignored. We hope that Esports gets official recognition as a sport in India just like other countries as it will enable us to go full throttle and scale great heights in video gaming. Soon enough, every individual in the country will seek to be involved in this video gaming revolution and the day is not far when esports will also get included as a medal sport in Olympics just like Asian Games.
Rohit Jagasia, Founder & CEO, Revenant Esports:
The entire Esports fraternity will be rejoicing with this welcome news which has certainly been a result of the gaming community’s collective efforts spanning over the last few years. The inaugural edition of the Olympics Esports Week is a testament to global bodies realizing the value of gaming and giving it the recognition that it deserves. With the gaming industry in India growing at such a rapid pace and accumulating never seen before numbers in terms of revenue we can hopefully expect India to be one of the countries that have officially recognized Esports as a sport soon. It is about time that gaming gets included as an official medal sport at all major multi-sport events and it will be an immense pleasure to see India become a dominant force in it.
Rohit Agarwal, Founder & Director, Alpha Zegus, the next-gen marketing agency specializing in the domains of gaming & lifestyle:
After the great success last year, many gamers were looking forward to Olympic Esports week, and what better location than the commercial epicenter of Asia Pacific, Singapore! Fingers crossed for more opportunities for India now, and for more of our local and national teams to take part. Also, this will fuel the esports ecosystem and the sporting event further leverage the huge viewership base of competitive gaming around the globe.
