The Olympic Games have declared a fresh week of Olympic Esports Series competitions. While it’s thrilling to hear that the longest athletic event in the world is looking to get into gaming, let’s just say the response won’t be what they were hoping for after some cringey messaging and “interesting” game selections at their first event.
Your e-time has come!
The Olympic Esports Series is coming and this is your chance to participate! Are you up for the challenge?#OlympicsEsports #OlympicEsportsSeries pic.twitter.com/Igc0mMATyi— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) March 1, 2023
The Olympian Esports Championship will take place in Singapore from June 22 to June 25. Professional and novice players from a limited list of games have been asked to compete in qualifying stages for the event in the summer, which began yesterday. You undoubtedly didn’t expect to see the following titles on a list of the best esports you’d like to see at an event like this:
- Chess.com (Chess)
- Gran Turismo (Motorsport)
- Just Dance (Dancing)
- Tennis Clash (Tennis)
- Tic Tac Bow (Archery)
- Virtual Regatta (Sailing)
- Virtual Taekwondo (Taekwondo)
- WBSC: eBaseball: Power Pros (Baseball)
- Zwift (Cycling)
The catalog of games for the Olympics Esports Series shows that they are clearly attempting to reflect different real-world sports, but the game selection is quite intriguing. We had to search up WBSC: Baseball: Power Pros, which is a Nintendo Switch game that costs a $1 on the eShop. Not to say it’s a terrible game, but it’s not the huge headlining event you’d expect to see.
Just Dance and Gran Turismo are titles that most people have heard of, but they are not our first choices for Olympian competition. When we see simple Chess.com, we ponder why they don’t just bring their own chessboard to the game. There are also few noteworthy combat games for those who aren’t into Virtual Taekwondo.
Needless to say, the Olympics Esports Series appears to have already struck a roadblock in terms of attracting an audience of esport fans. The crowd must be entertained by the games being performed for this gathering to be a success. We’re not positive if Tic Tac Bow, a smartphone game, will accomplish this.
