Olympic esports tournament adds Fortnite, but not any Fortnite mode you've seen before
In March, the International Olympic Committee announced that it was getting into esports. It's not adding videogames to the Olympics, but it is running a «global virtual and simulated sports competition» this year called the Olympic Esports Series 2023.
The tournament got a light roasting on social media when its game roster was initially announced, because rather than choosing big esports games like League of Legends or CS:GO, the IOC picked analogues of traditional sports, including WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros and mobile game Tennis Clash. The most esports-ey game in the mix was Gran Turismo, followed arguably by Chess.com.
This week, the IOC announced(opens in new tab) that it's adding Fortnite to the Esports Series lineup, and if you're thinking «alright, it might not be my first choice, but that is a game people play in an esports context,» hold up, because there's more. The competitors in the Olympic Esports Series aren't going to play Fortnite's regular battle royale mode. They're going to drop onto «International Shooting Sport Federation Island» in Fortnite Creative where they'll be «tested on their target aiming accuracy, just as sport shooters would in competition.»
I find it all pretty endearing. As silly as these «esports» selections are, I wouldn't have actually expected The Olympics to dive in with a CS:GO tournament—can you really have a team playing as «terrorists» in an event associated with the Olympics?—or to get involved with any simulated killing at all. The most violent the Olympics gets is in combat sports like boxing and karate, and how violent they should be is a controversial topic. In 2021, athlete Tareg Hamedi was disqualified(opens in new tab) for knocking out opponent Sajad Ganjzadeh in
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