The German games industry association game has spoken out following the end of the collaboration between the IOC and EWCF, welcoming the IOC's commitment to Olympic Esports Games. At the same time, the association praises the German government's approach to esports.
“The recent announcement by the International Olympic Committee came as a surprise to many. It is good that the IOC is once again emphasizing the great importance of esports and its plans for Olympic Esports Games,” said Felix Falk, Managing Director of game - The German Games Industry Association.
The association is responding to the end of the partnership, which was announced yesterday by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF). Together with the Olympic Committee of Saudi Arabia, the first Olympic Esports Games were originally scheduled to take place in Riyadh in 2025.
However, the project has been postponed until 2027. After that, things went quiet, even though many questions remained unanswered, including the extent to which the national structures of the sporting world would be involved. The association also addresses this in its statement. Falk says: “The end of the previous implementation plans also shows that esports and traditional sports function differently in important ways. Cooperation must therefore be well-structured and suitable for both sides.”
Then there were words of praise for the German government, which initiated the recognition of esports as a non-profit activity from 2026 onwards. “The German government is therefore taking exactly the right approach for Germany by now allowing non-profit status for esports clubs, while preserving the respective autonomy of esports and traditional sports. This will integrate esports into society and politics, and clubs will be able to decide individually whether and how they want to integrate esports into their work in the future,” Falk states.
