HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Olympics hosts its first Esports event ever. The inaugural Olympic Esports Series 2023 began on Thursday in Singapore as part of Olympic Esports Week and is set to showcase video games on the biggest international sports stage.
The support from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has Esports programs across south-central Pa. excited for what the future holds.
"We’re gaining acceptability and we are starting to see Esports represented at a larger scale, obviously the Olympics being the largest we’ve [seen] so far," said Michael Navarro, Harrisburg University's Esports Director.
There are 10 video games officially part of the Olympic series, so far: Tic Tac Bow (archery), WBSC eBaseball™: POWER PROS (baseball), Chess.com (chess), Zwift (cycling), Just Dance (dance), Gran Turismo (motorsport), Virtual Regatta (sailing), Fortnite (shooting), Virtual Taekwondo (taekwondo) and Tennis Clash (tennis).
Despite a lack of marquee video game titles on the list, those active in the Esports scene say this year's lineup is a way for the IOC to test the place of video games in the Olympics.
"[They're] dipping [their] toe into this and don’t want to separate too far away from what makes the Olympics with traditional sports," said Navarro. "But, [they] realize that Esports [are] becoming a more important thing."
Harrisburg University is one of the first schools to create a varsity Esports team in the country, offering full-tuition scholarships to their players. The school says they expect to see more programs similar to what they offer as Esports becomes more involved with the Olympics.
"When you start seeing the bigger schools starting to really commit, that’s when the dominoes are going to start to fall," said Navarro. "You’re now having big schools seeing [that] the Olympics is doing Esports, and are looking at this as a legitimate thing."
Harrisburg University Esports officials added that it opens up new opportunities to the next generation of kids.
"Now you have Esports that open up a path where you can learn all [the] things you learn in traditional sports, but now also get college education off of it and maybe looking at competing in the Olympics one day," expressed Navarro.
It remains to be seen whether Esports will become an official Olympic sport, but gamers are confident this is a sign that it's one step closer.
"The common consensus amongst people who have been in the Esports industry for a long time has always been that the Olympics needs Esports more than Esports needs the Olympics," said Navarro. "I think it’s a matter of when, not if."
The inaugural Olympic Esports week runs through June 25 and can be streamed live on the official Olympics website.