Ahead of next summer’s Olympics, Intel will be hosting a video game tournament called World Open Tokyo 2020. Only two games will be showcased during the tournament: Rocket League and Street Fighter V.
The $500,000 tournament is designed to tout the power and excitement that video game esports provide to fans, participants, and viewers. It’s likely that having Intel as the sponsor of next year’s event will bring even more calls for the inclusion of esports in the Olympics going forward. However, even as far back as 2017, esports enthusiasts were lobbying the Olympic Committee to see it become part of the Paris 2024 Olympics. However, the suggestion was met with stiff resistance with the committee stating that violent video games have no place in the Olympics.
As more and more millennials tune out of traditional sporting events including the Olympics, it may become more attractive to organizers. With a powerhouse sponsor like Intel, the tough road to inclusion may be just a bit smoother going forward.
Intel’s head of gaming, Mark Chang said, “Intel has been dedicated investing in esports for well over a decade. You may not know that we’re so committed to the space because first, we’re technologists, and more importantly, we are gamers, and esports actually allows us to showcase core Intel values.”
The tournament will be broadcast via 76 different live feeds that feature a whopping 9,500 hours of coverage. “We intend to enhance the experience not only for the viewers, our games, but also the attendees and the participants,” said Intel VP of Sales and Marketing Rick Echevarria. These enhancements will utilize cutting edge technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, immersive media, and, of course, esports.
The end goal is to raise awareness of the viability of esports at the Olympics and to showcase new technologies that are in development at Intel and with its partners. The experience of those watching remotely or who are in attendance at the venue will be enhanced by facial recognition, AI, 5G, VR, realtime information overlays and much more.
“For Tokyo, fans can expect a better and more immersive experience than ever before. It will allow them to deeply engage in the sports they really love,” Echevarria said.
Read more about what is in store for the Intel World Open at VentureBeat.com.
