KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS The International Olympic Committee has taken a notable step back from its ambitions for full-fledged Olympic-style esports, signalling a shift in strategy and casting doubt on the near-term prospects for what had been described as the “Olympic Esports Games”.

Once enthusiastic about embracing competitive gaming, the IOC in 2017 and 2018 acknowledged the appeal of esports for younger audiences but also voiced caution.

In 2018 the IOC described talk of integrating esports into the Olympic programme as “premature”. but by mid-2024 it had gone further, voting to establish the Olympic Esports Games, with a 12-year hosting deal starting in Saudi Arabia.

However . . . earlier this year the initiative hit trouble with the inaugural Games being delayed to 2027 and, ultimately, the IOC and its Saudi partner parted ways.

Multiple issues explain the retreat:

Governance and values: The IOC has long maintained that any inclusion of esports must align with Olympic values – specifically avoiding games built around “killing” or graphic violence;

Intellectual-property (IP) complexity: Unlike traditional sport (where rules and playing fields are largely open), video games are owned by publishers/licensors. The IOC’s efforts to integrate esports foundered on licensing, scheduling and governance complexity;

Brand and model fit: The IOC recognised that the “esports” world is extremely fast-moving in titles, platforms and audiences, which clashed with the slower, more stable Olympic model. A report noted that the inaugural Games were difficult to deliver in the proposed timeframe;

Ambition v practicality: The early ambition to host the first Games in Saudi Arabia as early as 2025 proved over-ambitious.

Now the IOC is emphasising a “two-speed” approach: treating sports simulations and virtual sport (which more closely mimic physical sports) differently from broader esports titles.

In short: esports remains of interest, but it will not be adopted hastily or under the same model as summer or winter Games. The IOC appears to be deferring to a longer-term horizon and more refined structure.

This retreat will disappoint many in the gaming community who hoped to see flagship esports titles elevated to Olympic status. On the other hand, it suggests a sobering realism from the IOC: aligning videogame competitions with the Olympic movement is far more complex than simply saying “let’s add esports”.

For athletes, publishers and national federations, the message is clear: esports may feature in the Olympic ecosystem, but under significantly different terms than initially promised.

In short, the IOC has not abandoned esports—but it has paused the march toward an Olympic-styled esports Games, reframed the ambition and opened the door to a more cautious, deliberate future.

IOC statement

he initiative of the Olympic Esports Games has created a great deal of excitement amongst all stakeholders of the Olympic Movement and in the esports community, who are all looking forward to the first edition.

In the last year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC) have discussed the concept of the Olympic Esports Games at length in line with the partnership they announced in 2024.

Recently, the two parties and the Esports World Cup Foundation sat down again and reviewed this initiative. They mutually agreed that they will end their cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games. At the same time, both parties are committed to pursuing their own esports ambitions on separate paths. The IOC, for its part, will develop a new approach to the Olympic Esports Games, taking the feedback from the “Pause and Reflect” process into account, and pursue a new partnership model.

This approach will be a chance to better fit the Olympic Esports Games to the long-term ambitions of the Olympic Movement and to spread the opportunities presented by the Olympic Esports Games more widely, with the objective of having the inaugural Games as soon as possible.

The overwhelming feedback received from the Olympic Movement stakeholders and the esports community shows that there is a great desire and considerable support for the initiative.

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