The International Olympic Committee and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee are ceasing cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is ending its cooperation with the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC) on the Olympic Esports Games. The planned event was announced in 2024 and scheduled for 2025, but was postponed to 2027.
IOC's statement on Olympic Esports Games
The IOC issued a brief post on the official Olympics website to deliver the news.
Community sentiment about the news and probable further delay of the Olympic Esports Games was mixed. On one hand, a sizable portion who were initially unsettled by Saudi Arabia's growing influence on esports see this as a win. "The rapid progress of the Saudis' influence over esports has been quite demotivating, so [it] feels good that at least one third-party tournament is escaping their grasp for now," one user wrote.
On the other hand, many are lamenting the delays, loss of investment, and the IOC's handling of another esports event. Historically, the Saudi-handled events featured a good selection of relevant, competitive, and, to many, actual esports titles. Meanwhile, esports in the Olympics have historically been simply virtual versions of already-existing Olympic sports, which may feel like a subpar representation of esports as a whole.
The initiative of the Olympic Esports Games has created a great deal of excitement amongst all stakeholders of the Olympic Movement and in the esports community, who are all looking forward to the first edition.
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Recently, the two parties and the Esports World Cup Foundation sat down again and reviewed this initiative. They mutually agreed that they will end their cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games. At the same time, both parties are committed to pursuing their own esports ambitions on separate paths.
The SOPC will most likely continue to work with the Esports World Cup Foundation. The EWCF recently unveiled the Esports Nations Cup, in which competitors will represent their countries instead of teams or clubs. This event is scheduled for November 2026. According to EWCF CEO Ralf Reichert, next year's iteration of the Esports World Cup is in "execution mode." As for their direction, here is what he had to say:
We’re scaling what matters: player pathways, club support, credible formats, and broadcast that reaches new fans without losing the core.
Meanwhile, the IOC will "develop a new approach to the Olympic Esports Games, taking the feedback from the 'Pause and Reflect' process into account, and pursue a new partnership model." This is quite a vague statement, and there is currently no confirmation on which partnerships the committee is chasing.
They did state that the new approach is "a chance to better fit the Olympic Esports Games to the long-term ambitions of the Olympic Movement and to spread the opportunities presented by the Olympic Esports Games more widely, with the objective of having the inaugural Games as soon as possible."
Some more reassurance was provided to eager competitors and spectators. "The overwhelming feedback received from the Olympic Movement stakeholders and the esports community shows that there is a great desire and considerable support for the initiative," the IOC wrote. So, the Games aren't completely discontinued, and if everything goes well, it may happen sooner than later.
IOC, EWCF, and SOPC
The Games and its partnership with the EWCF and the Saudi committee were ambitious to say the least. It was announced in 2024, and the event was set to be held in 2025 before it faced delays, sending it to 2027.
Moreover, the Games were set to be held in Saudi Arabia for 12 straight years.
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