Singapore hosted world’s first Olympic Esports Week in June: government, Singapore National Olympic Council and local industry all combined to support the landmark event
- Olympic Esports Week will boost local esports scene according to Lim Teck Yin, CEO of Sport Singapore while Emerge Group’s Roy Kek praises Singapore’s talent pool of developers and marketers
- The Olympic esports series includes digital versions of sports such as archery, baseball and cycling, but excluded popular games such as League of Legends, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and Dota 2
Singapore’s esports industry took a big step forward in hosting the world’s first Olympic Esports Week in June.
Trading on its iconic name, the inaugural competition attracted more than 100 athletes to compete across 10 virtual sports.
“The festival [is] a platform for the local sport industry to collaborate with international federations and tech companies, and this will no doubt give a boost to the development of the local and regional virtual sports scene,” said Lim Teck Yin, CEO of Sport Singapore, a body under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.
This was not the first time Singapore has hosted novel events of such scale. The country also hosted the first Youth Olympic Games in summer 2010.
Government support is critical in presenting the city as a place to host new events, according to Roy Kek, CEO of marketing technology company Emerge Group. “Our government has been very appreciative and welcoming in terms of having the gaming industry in Singapore,” said Kek. “They take a lot of initiative with regards to getting different types of gaming into Singapore.”
