This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 23, 2023 - October 29, 2023

Every four years amid much fanfare, the world celebrates the love of sports. The Olympic Games is an instantly recognisable event that keeps fans glued to their screens, keeping tabs on which country has collected the most gold medals.

However, as the world increasingly turns to social media, virtual reality and the metaverse for entertainment, what kind of role does eSports play in our lives?

“Generally, the significance of eSports is underscored by its multifaceted impact on contemporary society, spanning diverse realms such as entertainment, economy, technology and culture. eSports, which encompasses competitive video gaming, has burgeoned into a global phenomenon that captivates audiences, stimulates economic growth, drives technological innovation and fosters vibrant communities,” says William Xiong, vice-president of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence and general manager of Enterprise Service Cloud.

“eSports has driven innovation in areas such as virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence, often pushing the boundaries of what is possible in interactive entertainment. This technological convergence not only enhances the gaming experience but also has broader applications that extend into various industries.”

The inaugural Olympic Esports Week (OEW), which was created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and hosted in Singapore, offered a glimpse of what is possible. OEW featured 10 games in a virtual format, namely archery, baseball, chess, cycling, dance, motorsport, sailing, shooting, tennis and taekwondo.

Beginning on March 1, professional and amateur players from around the world were invited to take part in qualification rounds of the featured games. OEW was held from June 23 to 25 at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The IOC officially recognised eSports as a sport in 2017.

Set on different stages, athletes were able to ply their trade while onlookers cheered them on. Athletes in the cycling event used stationary bikes while the screens showed their virtual counterparts cycling through digital landscapes. The athletes were from countries such as Russia, Germany, Singapore and Japan.

The highlight of the week was the first in-person live finals of the Olympic Esports Series 2023, a global virtual and simulated sports competition created in collaboration with international federations and game publishers.

OEW included free-to-play zones for visitors to immerse themselves in the surrounding environment and hype. Capcom’s Street Fighter and Sega games were among those played in a modern pentathlon. Canoeing and table tennis were showcased, with visitors playing the games using virtual reality headsets.

OEW came with its share of controversy for not including more popular games such as Valorant, Dota and Mobile Legends. These were excluded because of the violence displayed in the games, including the use of guns.

Any disappointment during OEW was due to the fact that none of the games selected were really considered eSports, The Star quoted Matthew Woods of eSports marketing agency AFK as saying. This was because the games were re-creations of real-world events rather than video games played at an elite competitive level.

In the future, more games will be included to be more diverse and inclusive, says Vincent Pereira, head of virtual sport at the IOC. For instance, NBA 2K23, which was part of the exhibition games at OEW, may be added to the competitive section in future iterations.

Other exhibition games during OEW included Rocket League and Street Fighter 6.

“For us, it should be how we can improve the quality of the games, improve the quality of the competition and create an event that will bring value to everyone,” says Pereira.

To do so, collaboration in the ecosystem is key.

“As we have more partners coming into the ecosystem with us, how do we collaborate with them in a more sustainable way, not just for the numbers, but to expand our eSports proposition for everyone moving forward, which is ultimately our goal,” says Ajay Jilka, head of eSports for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Moonton Games.

“For us, strictly from an eSports perspective, which is by definition different to what we are looking at this week when it comes down to very hardcore eSports fans, we want to work with more partners to sustainably extend this to the audience.”

Moonton Games, which was established in 2014, is a global video game company dedicated to gaming development, publication and eSports. Its leading games are Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the mobile multiplayer online battle arena.

“I think for us, this is just a starting point. [OEW] is a first step or a learning curve. We have thousands of learnings already over the last two days [of OEW] and the eight months we worked with Singapore [to organise the event],” says Pereira.

OEW is not a one-off event, with discussions already being held with different countries and cities for future iterations of the event, stresses Pereira.

The question that remains is: when will eSports take the stage at the Olympics?

According to news reports, there are still no plans to integrate eSports or video games into the Olympics. However, there are plans for virtual active sports to be included in the near future, says Pereira.

As eSports evolves, the technology utilised has to keep pace with the demands of users. To play the games in a virtual format, the games need various forms of technology. For instance, virtual reality headsets were used by those playing the taekwondo game.

Zwift is an indoor cycling and running virtual app. Zwift’s smart trainer allows users to explore 11 immersive worlds while training and competing in the races available at different levels and lengths. The OEW cycling event used Zwift’s Scotland world.

“I think it’s just amazing what we can do now. About 10 years ago, we never thought it would be possible to do so. With technology, we are breaking barriers. We can go beyond this to encourage people to be engaged,” says Pereira.

“We are creating new types of athletes. The simulators we see are being used by pro athletes, and I think the technology is really helping with gaming and video games with the gauge we have.”

The worldwide partners of OEW include Alibaba Cloud, Bridgestone, Panasonic and Samsung.

Alibaba has partnered with the IOC since 2017 to utilise cloud technology and its e-commerce platform to help the games transition using digitalisation. This is to make the organisation of the events more efficient and to reduce operational costs.

For instance, in tandem with the launch of the OBS cloud, the games at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics were able to reduce the number of staff and equipment on the ground by 27%, reduce total costs by 25% and bring more diverse content to the cloud.

Furthermore, at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the core system of the Olympic Games operation was moved to the cloud. Insights and analysis were gained using this measure, which will be utilised at future games.

Alibaba’s role has taken a slightly different turn at OEW, with a focus on sustainability.

Alibaba Cloud’s Energy Expert was used to measure and analyse carbon emissions from temporary construction during OEW. It was used to evaluate various aspects of the event’s temporary construction, including energy consumption, waste management, signage and decoration.

Alibaba Cloud’s technology can be directly utilised in eSports such as VR table tennis. The game, which utilises Alibaba Cloud Global Network, provided end-to-end data transmission encryption, global network coverage and ultra-low latency to eliminate security and reliability concerns. This was done to give players all over the world an immersive gaming experience.

Furthermore, Alibaba Cloud is collaborating with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore to scale up the development of two games designed for the elderly. These games are co-developed by the Joint NTU-UBC Research Centre of Excellence in Active Living for the Elderly and Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing.

The two games are the hunting bike game and physio ping pong. The hunting bike game turns physical exercise into an engaging activity by utilising Internet of Things sensors to convert pedalling motions into in-game actions. This allows seniors to train their lower limb strength.

On the other hand, physio ping pong allows seniors to stay active and stimulate their cognitive function. This is done through motion sensors that combine physical and cognitive activities.

“I think there will be more avenues for games for the elderly and even children. That will change things and families can have more interactions and social activities,” says Professor Cuntai Guan, president’s chair professor in computer science and engineering at NTU.

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