E-sports Olympics will be held in Saudi Arabia in 2025

The first Olympic eSports Games will be held in Saudi Arabia in 2025. The Olympic Committee IOC announced this over the weekend. The IOC and Saudi Arabia have agreed on a twelve-year partnership. The announcement does not state whether further games will take place in Saudi Arabia within these twelve years.

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IOC President Thomas Bach commented on the announcement, saying the Saudi Arabian Olympic Association NOC has “unique expertise” in the e-sports sector. “Through the partnership with the Saudi NOC, we have also ensured that Olympic values ​​are respected,” Bach said – this applies in particular to gender equality.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to spend $39 billion by 2030 to establish Saudi Arabia as the “ultimate global hub for gaming and eSports.” The Saudi Crown Prince wants to diversify the economy, According to Human Rights Watch But it also diverts attention from human rights violations, including discrimination against women, in the country.

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With “League of Legends”?

The Olympic e-sports Games in Saudi Arabia are going to be the first event of their kind. So far, the Olympic Committee has gained initial experience of competitive video games with smaller events such as e-sports weekends. So far, the IOC has demonstrated a fundamental lack of interest in truly popular titles: instead of “League of Legends”, “Dota 2” and “Counter-Strike”, unimportant titles such as the mobile game “Tic Tac Toe” or “Tennis Clash” were played at an e-sports weekend in Singapore Bo.

The IOC around Thomas Bach prefers video games that are based on real sports. In fact, popular e-sports titles have not fit into the picture so far: “We cannot have a sport on the Olympic program that promotes violence and harassment,” IOC President Thomas said in 2018.

According to the French The sports newspaper L’Équipe But a change in strategy may be appropriate. Accordingly, games such as “League of Legends”, “Street Fighter” and “Rocket League” may also be on the Olympic program. This could mean that the event could acquire a completely different relevance, at least in terms of content.

It remains to be seen whether the developers of these games will agree to the partnership. In 2020, “League of Legends” developer Riot Games canceled a sponsorship deal with Project The Line, based in the Saudi city of Neom, after community outcry.

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