The Olympic Council of Asia, responsible for planning and organizing the Alternative Asian Games (also known as the Asian Games), has decided to make cyber competitions an official sport discipline at the 2022 Asian Summer Games to be held in Hangzhou, China. Among the reasons cited is the rapid displacement of “traditional sports” by new types of digital entertainment among young people. No specific games or genres have been named yet, but judging by the vague comments, the list will include sports simulators, MOBAs and RTSs.

You probably already have a lot of questions, so I’ll try to clarify some of them. Asians have always been famous for their tendencies towards liberal racism, singling out their abilities against other neighbors on the planet and trying, in a very mannered way, to win prizes both in international competitions and in local ones, where people of other races are not allowed. Of course no one openly declares this position, but since 1951, Asian countries hold their own sports competitions, albeit under the direct supervision of the International Olympic Committee. For territorial reasons, countries such as Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey are not allowed to compete. To all known “Olympics”, this competition has almost nothing to do. Practically! But about that later.

Secondly, you can ask a very reasonable question: why cybersports are equated with boxing and volleyball, but chess is not? Even in Asia. Ironically, playing video games, especially team games, a person trains not only thinking processes, but also reaction speed, as well as experiencing full physical stress on the nervous and respiratory systems and must be in good physical shape to endure such loads. In addition, on January 27, 2015 there was a conference of the Korea Electronic Sports Association (KeSPA) and the International Olympic Committee, during which cybersports were given the rank of a second-tier sport discipline, which means that depending on the global popularity of certain sports, the same golf or field hockey may well lose its status as a sport discipline and then their place will take the most popular games of the second level.

And thirdly, money. The Olympic Games, the Super Bowl or the ill-fated Eurovision – it is always a huge capital invested in advertising, tourism and promotion of participants. For example, the cost of a 30-second commercial during the National Football League championship (Super Bowl) is about $30,000,000. Of course, the higher the interest in the event, the more profitable for the organizers, which means a huge prize fund for the same Dota 2 – The International and a significant investment in cybersport famous players, it is worthy to compete with the traditional sport on the issue of return on investment. Also recall that in South Korea, StarCraft and eSports as such, has long been a national treasure, if not a separate religion. So the increased attention to the players will be provided along with the fabulous advertising fees.

So it’s possible that, for example, at the Olympic Games 2028, which will be held in Amsterdam, there may be high number of MMR and APM holders among the gold medalists, but the future will show.