Electronic sports or E-sports has now transcended the level of an underground movement. Being a professional cyber athlete is no longer a distant dream with players now on a monthly pay-roll. Tournaments have successfully touched the $ 15 million prize money mark, with thousands of organisations attempting to grab a piece of the pie.
However, the recent rise of competitive gaming as a spectator sport has seen hosts of sponsors and corporates take notice. Further legitimising the sport, a new Egames tournament termed as the “E-Olympics” is said to make it's debut at this year's summer Olympics in Rio.
The tournament is being heavily backed by the United Kingdom government, and will be governed by the newly formed International eGames Committee (IEGC). The association's aim is to increase country-based representation as compared to organisation based one.
Four countries including Britain, USA, Canada and hosts Brazil have already confirmed paritcipation. National qualifiers will be held in each country to determine, which professional gamers will make the cut.
Nations will send mixed-sex squads, competing across various game titles. The game-list is yet to be announcec, however, PC games such as Call of Duty, Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter Strike Global Offensive and FIFA are said to be front-runners.
Chester King, CEO of the non-profit organisation told BBC, “In line with other globally established sporting events, the eGames will be a medal only competition, with no prize money, but the opportunity to take home gold for your country."
UK's Minister of culture Ed Vaizey said, "The eGames promises to be an exciting venture that will give eSports competitors across the UK even more opportunities to showcase their talents on an international stage.”
He added, ”Currently most competitions are single games like Call Of Duty or Fifa so we will try to emulate the magic of an Olympics by having legends/champions from various eSports all in the same location."
The Egames committee will setup an association in each country, so that national qualifiers are held in time. The event will be a test-run for future inclusion at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
India as of now doesn't have a recognised E-sports association, however, according to sources, some top retailers have been contacted regarding the matter.
