Over at the London Games Festival, it has been announced that there will be an eGames international gaming tournament held at the Rio 2016 Olympics this summer.
And just like the real Olympics, there's no cash up for grabs, although the winner will score some gold. No, not gold pieces, but gold medals, along with silver and bronze – and of course the buzz that you're representing your nation at eSports.
This is a non-profit competition supported by the UK government, and there will be national squads of gamers (male and female – the only stipulation is to be over 18) competing in both team and individual events.
The Rio 2016 eGames will be a two-day 'pop-up' event held in Olympic arenas, just after the Olympics itself has finished.
Biennial bash
Going forward, the eGames will be held in years where there's a Summer or Winter Olympics, so the next one will be the Winter Olympics in South Korea come 2018, followed by the Summer Olympics in Tokyo 2020.
The years between, such as 2017, will be used to hold national qualifiers to pick the squad for the following year's competition.
At the moment, there are four nations signed up for the eGames 2016: Britain, Brazil, Canada and the US. Other countries will of course get the opportunity to sign up, and more information is expected to be revealed about the event over the course of the next couple of months.
What games will be played isn't clear yet, but you can safely put money on the usual suspects like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and MOBAS such as Valve's Dota 2 or League of Legends – with perhaps some good old card flinging thrown in with Hearthstone, maybe.
Via: BitGamer
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