The committee made the announcement via its Twitter page on November 16, confirming the selection of the Asian nation as the host of the inaugural event.
��IOC confirms Singapore as host of first Olympic Esports Week in June 2023,�� the announcement tweet read.
��The announcement marks the next major step in supporting the development of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement and engaging further with competitive gamers.��
The Olympic Esports Week is a four-day festival aimed at further aiding the development of virtual sports and showcasing the best of esports. The event is poised to display both hybrid physical and simulated sports, match viewing, education sessions or workshops, panel discussions, and the exhibition of new technologies.
The event is scheduled to run from June 22�C25, 2023, and feature first in-person finals of the Olympic Esports Series, which will be a continuation of the Olympic Virtual Series. The virtual series is expected to feature games ranging from virtual cycling, motorsport, sailing, and rowing, amongst others.
The Olympic Virtual Series was first announced in April 2021, with the aim of running simultaneously with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The event was marketed and produced by DreamHack Sports.
The event will be held in close collaboration with the Singaporean Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth, Sport Singapore, and the Singapore National Olympic Committee (SNOC).
The IOC President, Thomas Bach, spoke about the appointment, describing it as ��an important milestone.�� He went on to state that the event gives room for the organization to collaborate with esports players and engage their audience.
��The first Olympic Esports Week marks an important milestone in our ambition to support the growth of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement,�� Bach said.
��We believe the exciting new format of our virtual sports competition, with live finals to be staged for the first time, is an opportunity to collaborate further with esports players and to create new opportunities for players and fans alike.��
The IOC also shared that in the coming weeks it will share more details about the Olympics Esports Week, including how players can participate.
There seems to be substantial growth in the development and adoption of esports, going by the multiple activities surrounding the industry in recent weeks. The news of the inaugural Olympic Esports Week comes on the heels of the recent partnership between the European Olympic Committees and the Global Esports Federation, which was announced on November 16. Less than a week ago, the European Union voted to recognize esports and clamored for long-term strategic planning.
SNOC Board member and IOC Vice President Ng Ser Miang also commented on the announcement. He stated that the SNOC believes in the direction the International Olympic Committee wants to explore and expressed his appreciation for the selection of Singapore as the inaugural hosts.
��The Singapore NOC shares the Olympic Movement��s ambitions of exploring the development of virtual sports,�� Miang said.
��Singapore has a track record of successfully hosting some of the biggest events in the virtual sports and esports calendar �C we are honoured to be collaborating with the IOC to bring this shared vision to life.��
In the past, there have been multiple attempts by the IOC to explore esports, like the 2018 Esports Summit. The sport was also afforded a trial event at the 2021 Commonwealth Games. It has also been acknowledged at a medal event at the Asian Games.
The IOC’s announcement of the Olympic Esports Week shows its ingrained interest in esports, despite the little detail available. The addition of esports titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, Valorant, and Call of Duty, among others, was not reported, as we expect more details in the coming weeks.
]]>TI11 will mark the first time the tournament has taken place in Southeast Asia. China was the first Asian country to host The International when it held TI9 in Shanghai in 2019.??
Valve had been hinting at the release on social media recently by uploading numerous photos, some of which featured notable locations such as the Marina Bay Sands towers.
??TI11 will take place not long after the completion of the 2022 Dota Pro Circuit, which is about to begin its third round of regional league tournaments for the Summer Tour. The season finale is scheduled for August 4-14 in Arlington, Texas. ??
The International will take place in October at the Suntec City convention center, revealing that Valve would stick to the same schedule as TI10. A total of 18 teams will participate, with 12 teams earning direct tickets based on Dota 2 Pro Circuit points from the 2021-22 season. Regional qualifiers will fill the remaining six slots.??
Though the Stockholm Major was practically finished at the time of the announcement, a few franchises – including TSM, OG, PSG.LGD, Thunder Awaken, and Gaimin Gladiators – are seen to have a greater than 90 percent chance of directly qualifying for TI11 via the DPC, according to analyst Ben “Noxville” Steenhuisen and datDota developer. This is even before the third DPC Tour starts, which should lock in at least a few more teams.??
Over the course of the Summer Tour and leading up to the Arlington Major, more information regarding The International will be released.??
The International is an annual Dota 2 esports world championship hosted and produced by Valve, the game’s developer. It is one of the most prominent esports events in the world, and it is undoubtedly the most important Dota 2 tournament.
??The first TI was held in Cologne, Germany, in 2011, but the next six took place in Seattle, USA. Since then, it has extended to different cities each time: Vancouver, Canada, in 2018; Shanghai, China, in 2019; Bucharest, Romania, in 2021; and now Singapore in 2022.??
Owing to the coronavirus outbreak, The International 2020 was rescheduled, and TI10 was held in 2021. Due to an increase in coronavirus infections at the location, it was decided at the last minute that spectators would not be allowed, thus TI10 was conducted without an audience.??
Underdogs Team Spirit won TI10, claiming their first TI victory. After having won it in 2018 and 2019, favorites OG were unable to complete the three-peat.
At TI10, Team Spirit took home $18,208,300 in prize money, from a record prize pool of over US$40 million. ??Since 2013, the tournament’s prize pool has been crowdfunded through the game’s Battle Pass system, with a quarter of all revenue going directly to the tournament. The prize pool for The International is one of the greatest among all esports events.
]]>Icons was intended to take place in Madrid, Spain; however, Riot Games decided to relocate the tournament to Singapore due to lingering complications as a result of the COVID pandemic, including visa application delays and re-entry restrictions for several regional teams. Riot say the switch will guarantee that teams not only have the opportunity of attending the tournament, but also have a phenomenal first Icons experience.??
In a press release, Riot Games said: ?��Due to the global pandemic complicating visa application timelines and re-entry dates for many regional teams, Riot Games made the decision to move the competition to Singapore.��??
Riot’s Global Head of Esports, Leo Faria, spoke about the first Wild Rift Icons Global Championship moving to Singapore and what it promises to be to the esports community.
��We are incredibly excited to announce that our very first Wild Rift Icons Global Championship will be coming to Singapore this summer,�� Faria stated.
��Icons will be the climax of our Wild Rift esports season, showcasing the best in mobile esports from around the world!�� ??
This year’s competition will feature 24 teams, with eight from the regional championships and 16 from the play-in round. All of which will be vying for the championship title and the grand prize of $2 million.
??As stated earlier the Wild Rift Championship is scheduled for June 14 to July 9, 2022. The schedule is as follows:
More details on the tournament��s format will be revealed in the coming weeks.??
?League of Legends: Wild Rift is a game developed by Riot Games. It is a multiplayer online battle mobile game for both iOS and Android. The free-to-play game is a refined version of League of Legends for the PC.??
Tencent, a company that also publishes video games, asked Riot Games to develop League of Legends into a mobile game after officially acquiring them in 2015. Riot, on the other hand, declined, claiming that the game could never be recreated on a smartphone.
Tencent then developed a mobile MOBA, Honor of Kings – international adaptation known as Arena of Valor. Tencent’s partnership with Riot Games was reportedly affected by the aforesaid games, and the two companies’ relationship was further affected when Tencent utilized prominent League of Legends players to endorse Arena of Valor as well as its esports leagues.??
After a complaint was issued by Riot Games, a restriction for marketing Arena of Valor for two months was published. Also, an appeal was made for a review of all marketing strategies by Riot Games, and a prohibition of the use of select celebrity gamers. ??Having gone through this hurdle, Riot Games saw the possibility of transforming games to mobile. Hence, they created a mobile title – League of Legends: Wild Rift.
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