Riyadh to host first eSport Olympics, postponed to 2027

The first Olympic Esports Games, initially scheduled for this year, will now take place in 2027 in Riyadh, further cementing Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in global sports. The postponement, announced Tuesday by the International Olympic Committee, was widely expected, as the new event — awarded to the Gulf kingdom last July for a 12-year period — requires building connections between the Olympic movement and the esports industry.

“The first edition of these Games will take place in 2027 in Riyadh,” the Lausanne-based IOC said in a statement, following a Sunday meeting in the Saudi capital between IOC President Thomas Bach, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Saudi Arabia’s sports minister. However, the qualification process for the new event will begin “this year with the first Olympic competitions,” the organization added.

A biennial event?

For years, the IOC has sought to integrate esports into the Olympic movement without altering the traditional Games. Just ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, the committee decided to launch a separate event dedicated to competitive gaming. To make this happen, it signed an unprecedented deal with the Saudi National Olympic Committee, which will host the Esports Olympics through 2037, though the frequency of the Games remains undetermined.

David Lappartient, president of the IOC’s esports commission, has proposed holding the event “every two years,” in each odd-numbered, non-Olympic year. However, no final decision has been made.

Adapting esports to Olympic standards — including forming national teams, negotiating with game developers, implementing an anti-doping program, ensuring competition integrity, and adhering to the “non-violence” principle emphasized by Bach — remains a complex challenge.

To navigate these hurdles, the IOC is partnering with the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF), which “will bring its expertise in game selection, tournament structure, and ecosystem engagement,” allowing the IOC to establish “qualification principles” for future Games.

Saudi Arabia’s expanding sports influence

More broadly, the event further bolsters Saudi Arabia’s growing role in global sports. Already a hub for major competitions — including soccer, Formula 1, equestrian events, and boxing — the kingdom secured hosting rights for the 2034 FIFA World Cup last December and has expressed interest in one day holding the Summer Olympics.

In a more unexpected and widely criticized move, Saudi Arabia is also set to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games in its futuristic Neom complex, a multibillion-dollar megaproject spearheaded by Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the kingdom’s economy beyond oil.

Aware of the controversy surrounding Saudi Arabia’s rise in international sports, with critics accusing it of using sports to distract from human rights concerns, Bach insisted last July that the Esports Olympics would be “fully aligned with the Olympic Charter and values.”

On Tuesday, the IOC highlighted the “strong growth” of Saudi sports, noting that the country has hosted “more than 100 international men’s and women’s competitions” and has seen its national sports participation rate triple since 2015, now reaching nearly 50 percent of the population.