The event started with an opening ceremony at a convention center in Suntec City Mall, where athletes will be sparring on two competition stages and attendees can try out multiple video game zones. Singapore’s president Halimah Yacob appeared via hologram to deliver the opening speech.
Some of the competitions include a mobile archery game based on tic-tac-toe, a Taekwondo match via a motion-tracking avatar on a screen, and virtual cycling, where players race across the Scottish countryside using the interactive platform Zwift.
There will also be virtual sports like baseball, chess, motorsport, sailing, shooting, tennis, and dance.
Olympic Esports Week builds on the success of the Olympic Virtual Series staged before the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021, which attracted 250,000 participants.
Southeast Asia is among the world’s fastest-growing esports markets and gamers make up 82% of the region’s urban online population. The global esports market was valued at over $1.38 billion in 2022 and reached an audience of 532 million, according to Statista. Singapore is no stranger to esports competitions, launching the Singapore Games Association to develop the country’s esports ecosystem.
According to CNBC
