Why this varsity gaming team calls inaugural Olympic Esports Series 'a slap in the face'
When videogame players think of esports, titles such as League of Legends, Valorant and Rocket League may come to mind.
But in a move which Saints Gaming — St. Clair College’s varsity esports team — calls “a slap in the face,” none of those titles have been selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be part of the inaugural Olympic Esports Series.
Instead, the IOC has selected a series of games which are virtual versions of existing Olympic sports. Many of them can be downloaded on mobile devices and are not highly regarded in the esports community.
Harshil Patel, a coach and player for Saints Gaming’s Apex Legends Team, said his excitement of seeing esports take the Olympic stage quickly turned to disappointment upon seeing the list of games selected by the IOC.
“I feel like a lot of big organizations that just want to explore into esports because they're seeing the money rolling. They don't necessarily know what it is,” said Patel.
“They just think it's an opportunity to get something new going. They want to just dip their toes in without actually knowing how deep the water is.”
According to the IOC, the initially-confirmed featured games across nine sports are:
- Archery (World Archery Federation, Tic Tac Bow)
- Baseball (World Baseball Softball Confederation, WBSC eBASEBALL: POWER PROS)
- Chess (International Chess Federation, Chess.com)
- Cycling (UCI, Zwift)
- Dance (World DanceSport Federation, JustDance)
- Motor sport (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, Gran Turismo)
- Sailing (World Sailing, Virtual Regatta)
- Taekwondo (World Taekwondo, Virtual Taekwondo)
- Tennis (International Tennis Federation, Tennis Clash)
Qualification rounds for the 2023 Olympic Esports Series are already underway with the three-day finals expected to take place in Singapore, starting on June 22.
According to St. Clair College Esports Director Shaun Byrne, there are about 100 players under Saints Gaming and only four of them play any of the IOC-selected titles.
“Eight titles that they've selected are not games that any of our players have ever touched before and those games are just simply not considered esports,” said Byrne, adding the IOC’s list of games is a “a slap in the face” to esports.
“Most of them are app games filled with micro transactions. It looks like they are completely out of touch with reality in terms of what esports is and what it can be."
For Byrne, he has a “small hope” that the IOC will reconsider the games it selects to be featured on the Olympic stage in the future. However, based on the current effort, he doubts that will happen.
“We've been working on growing esports for 20 years, some of us 30 years, and for them the IOC to finally commit to doing something with esports and then for these to be the games that they've selected, it's just really disappointing."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
Twins from Toronto were Canada's top two female finishers at this year's Boston Marathon
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Accused of burglary at stepmother's home, U.S. senator says she wanted her father's ashes: charges
A Minnesota state senator and former broadcast meteorologist told police that she broke into her stepmother's home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes, according to burglary charges filed Tuesday.
Australian police arrest 7 alleged teen extremists linked to stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church
Australian police arrested seven teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology in raids across Sydney on Wednesday, as a judge extended a ban on social media platform X sharing video of a knife attack on a bishop that started the criminal investigation.