FIA to identify game developers for Olympic Esports partnership

The governing body of world motorsport, Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA), has announced its intention to identify game developers for a partnership related to the Olympic Esports Games.

The partnership entails the FIA collaborating with selected partners to create a platform, with the intention that it will feature in 2025’s Olympic Esports Games.

According to a release, the opportunity is open to ‘one or more racing game developers’ to join forces with the FIA to either create or adapt an existing sim racing title to be used ‘at the highest level of competition.’ The deadline for developers to express their interest in the initiative is on October 18th.

The inaugural Olympic Esports Games will take place in Saudi Arabia in partnership with the National Olympic Committee of Saudi Arabia for the next 12 years. Aside from the FIA’s intention to include sim racing as one of the disciplines, details on other titles featuring at the games have yet to be revealed.

The FIA has continued to expand its presence within the esports industry throughout 2024. In May, it joined forces with iRacing to launch the F4 Esports Global Championship while August saw it renew its esports rights deal with haptic technology company D-BOX.

In addition to its iRacing initiatives, the FIA supported the Gran Turismo World Series from 2018 to 2021. A 2022 report from Motorsport.com later revealed that the partnership between the two parties is on hiatus.

The 2025 Olympic Esports Series won’t be the first time virtual motorsport has featured at an Olympic-sanctioned esports event. Gran Turismo 7 featured during 2023’s Olympic Series held in Singapore.