The digital revolution is difficult, and it took more than ten years for e-sports to attract the attention of the International Olympic Committee.

The first E-sports Olympic Games has been officially scheduled to be held in 2025. How exciting it is! However, does anyone remember how long the road to the digital revolution was?

In 2009, the city of Copenhagen hosted the 13th Olympic Congress. At that time, the International Olympic Committee mentioned the rise of digital media and hoped that sports could adapt to this trend and change the way events were disseminated. It was because of this decision that the Olympic Games ushered in a digital revolution. In the next decade or so, it did pay great attention to digital communication.

Stereotypes still exist, e-sports games are seen as violent

Time flies, and in October 2017, e-sports began to rise and become impossible to ignore, competing with traditional sports, prompting the International Olympic Committee to seriously discuss the potential of e-sports. However, due to polarized opinions from the outside world and the lack of unified international management, as well as the violent elements of game battles, the plan was eventually shelved and was not intended to be included as a competition event.

A year later, the International Olympic Committee began to establish friendly relations with the e-sports and gaming communities. However, concerns about violent content still exist, which violates the Olympic Charter. Therefore, it was not until 2021 that the preparations for the first Olympic Virtual Series were announced. However, the competition events still revolve around traditional sports, such as baseball, racing, rowing, sailing, etc. This can be simply understood as a sign of the electronicization of sports, and it is also a breakthrough attempt made by the International Olympic Committee.

In June 2023, they held the first Olympic Esports Week in Singapore. Surprisingly, even though many esports games were globalized that year, such as DOTA 2, CSGO, and League of Legends, they were all considered to violate the principle of "violence" and could not be included in the competition. Therefore, sports virtual games were selected. Did you feel surprised to hear this? Fornite was successfully disguised as a family-friendly shooting sports game after many modifications.

The Olympics is getting younger and recognizing the value of e-sports

Whether it is the electronicization of sports or the sportsization of e-sports, the outside world still has prejudices against games, thinking that they are things that poison people's minds. No matter how big the competition is, the market is always dominated by young people. In the eyes of "predecessors", it is simply crazy to suggest rationalization of entertainment things. It was not until June 2024 that the International Olympic Committee finally proposed to create a "dedicated Olympic e-sports Games", and it was unanimously approved in July 2024. This historic moment symbolizes the success of the revolution and embraces the digital age.