The first Olympic Esports Week is about to start as players across 10 titles compete for Olympic glory. The festival is all set to take place at the Suntec Centre in Singapore from June 23-25. Participants started their journeys by participating in their respective tournaments starting back in March. It's the very first time the International Olympic Committee, the organization which decides which sports are contested at the Olympics, has included gaming in its Olympic calendar. Many Esports fans are unhappy due to the exclusion of popular titles such as Counter-Strike and Call of Duty probably due to their violent nature and having nothing to do with sports. This led to many big-shot players opting out of the event.
The 131 finalists from 64 countries will compete for a chance at gold, silver, and bronze Olympic Esports Series 2023 trophies. The exhibition matches and competitive finals will not be streamed on popular platforms such as Twitch and Youtube. The event mostly consists of sports simulators such as Gran Turismo, Chess.com, Tennis Clash, and Just Dance among many others. Viewers will instead have to go to the official Olympics website and find the esports tab. The matches will be broadcasted as per the following schedule, timings in EST:
June 23
Zwift Finals: 11 p.m.
Tic Tac Bow Finals: 1:15 a.m.
Rocket League Exhibition: 2:30 a.m.
Virtual Regatta Finals: 5:30 a.m.
Just Dance Finals: 7:45 a.m.
June 24
WBSC eBASEBALL: POWER PROS Finals: 11:45 p.m.
VR ELeven Exhibition: 2 a.m.
Chess Finals: 3:25 a.m.
Tennis Clash Finals: 5:50 a.m.
ISSF Challenge featuring Fortnite Finals: 7:45 a.m.
June 25
Arena Games Triathlon Exhibition: 10 p.m.
Gran Turismo Finals: 12 a.m.
Street Fighter 6 Exhibition: 1:45 a.m.
Virtual Taekwondo Finals: 3:30 a.m.
eFIBA Exhibition on NBA2K: 5:45 a.m.