The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Tuesday that the inaugural Olympic Esports Games will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2027. The first esports games tied to the IOC and the Saudi Arabian government are the result of a 12-year deal signed in 2024—the games were formally announced at the 142nd IOC Session in July 2024. For the organisation of these, the IOC is working closely with the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC).
The first iteration of the games was expected this year, but both the IOC and the various Saudi government bodies in charge of it needed more time to formulate a proper plan, according to what sources have told The Esports Advocate over the last several months.
“There is now a very clear roadmap to the historic first-ever Olympic Esports Games,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “With the Road to the Olympic Esports Games starting this year, the Games are becoming a reality. This is further evidence of the strength of the partnership between the IOC and the SOPC in many areas.”
The Esports Olympic Games will be facilitated by the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC) and the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) has been named a founding partner. The IOC-EWCF partnership aims to “create a lasting impact, bridging the gap between esports and traditional sports while expanding opportunities for players and teams representing their countries,” according to the announcement.
The deals and details related to the Esports Olympic Games were finalized during a meeting between the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, HRH Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud; IOC President Thomas Bach; and the President of the SOPC and Minister of Sports, HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal in Riyadh on Sunday. HRH Crown Prince MBS is also the chairman of Savvy Games Group, which owns and operates ESL FACEIT Group, and helps facilitate the Esports World Cup—no doubt EFG will play a major role in shaping the first Esports Olympic Games over the next decade.
On a related note, a joint committee between the IOC and the SOPC has been set up to steer the games and is chaired by IOC Member Ser Miang Ng and co-chaired by HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal. The committee consists of six people, three from each partner, and is currently working “to define the games that will be part of the first edition of the Olympic Esports Games,” according to the announcement.
The biggest concern amongst esports fans is that the games that organizers might consider to be top-tier competitive titles may not be included in any Olympic games, as they contain violent content, which the IOC considers a “red line” that it has refused to cross in the past. In addition, the IOC’s insistence that member federations will have influence on what games would be included in any Esports Olympic Games gives fans who watched 2023’s Olympic Esports Week great concern—as member federations pushed unknown games such as Tic Tac Bow and Virtual Taekwondo onto the world stage, and many of those titles were developed by companies that member federations had direct financial ties to.
But beyond those concerns, the IOC seems to have violated its own charter on human rights in order to facilitate a lucrative deal with the Saudi Arabian government, as the country is often criticized for its human rights record—more details on that can be found in our initial reporting on the Esports Olympic Games announcement made in July.