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Including in the Olympics shows just how far the USD 160 billion gaming industry has come. (ddp)

Gaming Esports entering the big leagues

26 April 2021, 9:06 pm CEST, written by UBS Editorial Team

Esports moved closer to inclusion in the Olympic Games after the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) recent announcement of the Olympic Virtual Series.

There has been a push to include virtual sports and gaming in the Olympics even before COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of video games. But this marks the first time an Olympic-sponsored virtual event will occur. So what is the Olympic Virtual Series?

The IOC will partner with five international sports federations and game publishers to host an event for physical and nonphysical virtual sports. The event will take place from 13 May to 23 June, leading up to the Tokyo Olympic Games. The five international sports federations and game publishers are as follows:

• Baseball: World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) – eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020, Konami Digital Entertainment • Cycling: Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) – Zwift • Rowing: World Rowing – Open format) • : – Virtual Regatta, Virtual Regatta SAS • Racing: Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – Gran Turismo, Polyphony Digital

All of the sports included in the event are based on actual sports as opposed to the traditional esports games such as League of Legends or Call of Duty. The IOC's strategy is to “encouraging the development of physical and non-physical forms of sports,” while also expanding the Olympic's reach to avid gamers. For example, the cycling portion of the event will require participants to actually bike through a virtual course on their stationary Zwift by controlling an avatar.

This represents the modernization of sporting events and the IOC's strategy to capture digital viewership trends. Expanding the Olympic's reach to younger, more digitally native generations is important for its continued place atop the sporting world. We are not saying all sports will, or even should be, virtual. But including esports in the Olympics shows just how far the USD 160 billion gaming industry has come. For UBS marketing purposes

Main contributors: Reid Gilligan, Equity Associate Analyst Americas, and Kevin Dennean, CFA, Technology & Communication Services Analyst Americas

Content is a product of the Chief Investment Office (CIO).

See Esports entering the big leagues, 23 April, 2021.

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