Olympic Esports Games to take place in Saudi Arabia

The International Olympic Committee has announced a partnership with the National Olympic Committee of Saudi Arabia for the inaugural edition of the Olympic Esports Games.

The 2025 Olympic Esports Games will take place in Saudi Arabia with the Games occurring ‘regularly’ during the next 12 years, which is the initial duration of the partnership.

Interestingly, the Olympic Esports Games will seemingly not adopt a similar, travelling format as the main Olympic Games given the IOC’s partnership for the next 12 years, or three Olympic cycles. IOC and the NOC of Saudi Arabia did not share details about the event and said in a release that work will begin on selecting a city and venue for the inaugural edition of the Olympic Esports Games. The work will commence after the IOC Board has officially approved the games.

As such, details such as which titles will be involved in the first edition have not been disclosed.

The IOC shared that it aims to create a new structure within its organisation that is focused on esports, which will be separate from the usual operations of the organisation. In a release, the IOC noted that it will ” also have to take a different approach with regard to the financing and organisation of these Games”, which probably means that the Esports Games will have a different way of being financed than the Olympics.

IOC President Thomas Bach commented: “We are very fortunate to be able to work with the Saudi NOC on the Olympic Esports Games, because it has great – if not unique – expertise in the field of esports with all its stakeholders. The Olympic Esports Games will greatly benefit from this experience. By partnering with the Saudi NOC we have also ensured that the Olympic values are respected, in particular, with regard to the game titles on the programme, the promotion of gender equality and engagement with the young audience, which is embracing esports.”

Saudi Arabia has made substantial moves in esports and gaming recently, including the organisation of the Esports World Cup in the country’s capital, Riyadh. Savvy Gaming Group, the owners of the ESL FACEIT Group, are backed by the Saudi Government’s Public Investment Fund. The Saudi-Arabian government’s esports efforts are often criticised as a form of ‘esportswashing‘, due to the country’s human rights towards women and LGBTQ+ communities.