Nations will compete for pride in the eGames

Esports gamers have been crying out for an Olympics of eSport and today the eGames have been announced.

The eGames initiative has been launched by the International eGames Committee (IEGC) and is being supported by the UK Government. The eGames will be a non-profit event where the best national players will compete for their country. It’s the Olympics of eSports.

There’s no cash prizes at this non-profit event but there will be medals for the winners with the first two-day “pop-up” event planned for Rio to coincide with the summer Olympics this year. Each country will be represented by an eTeam in both team and individual game events.

Four teams countries have signed up so far, Britain, Brazil, Canada and the USA.

“We plan to take the very best practice from the sports world and bring it to competitive gaming,” said Chester King, Chief Marketing Officer of the International eGames Group. “Our ambition is to bring credibility to the sector, dignity to the players and inspiration to the spectators.”

With the first few countries now signed up we’ll have to wait and see who else joins in the weeks ahead. More details are expected later this month and next.

Ineteringstly there’s no mention of players being called “athletes” and it’s still unknown who will make up each of the teams. If there’s no money involved will players want to dedicate more time outside of their regular teams to compete for medals?

It’s a positive initiative probably aimed at trying make eSports more mainstream. Perhaps the time is right to find out if fans will get behind a national team.