Esport joins Commonwealth Games for the first time

This news is causing quite a stir: eSports will be at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham for the first time this year. For athletes from Great Britain and the former British colonies, the Commonwealth Games are, next to the Olympics, the biggest sporting event par excellence. This year, the competitions will be held in Birmingham.

Esport will still have its own format in 2022

However, according to our experience and the announcements made by those responsible so far, Esport will not yet be included as a full-fledged discipline. This means that the computer games will be held in the supporting program. Nevertheless, the winners of the competitions will forever go down in history as the first eSports winners of the Commonwealth Games. This fact alone should promise exciting duels.

Disciplines will be played on two days only

It is already clear that eSports will not be played during the entire Commonwealth Games. The offer is limited to two days. It will be round in Birmingham on August 6 and August 7.

Medals will be created separately

It is also worth mentioning that the players will not yet receive the full Commonwealth medals. Special editions will be created for the award ceremonies. Despite this small drawback, the feedback from the eSports scene is consistently positive. Gamers from England and the other Commonwealth countries are already happy to finally be able to present themselves on the big stage.

2026 Esport as a full member

Incidentally, the direction of travel for the coming years has also already been clearly marked out. In 2026, eSports competitions will be run as a full-fledged discipline. This means that the field of participants will be significantly larger. Games will be played from the first to the last day of the Commonwealth Games.

Disciplines are not fixed yet

By the way, the responsible persons still owe one very important information. It is not yet clear which games can be played in August. The information about the game program should be published in the next days.

The statements of the responsible persons

Chris Chan, president of the Global Esports Federation, emphasized the importance of eSports in his statement. Chan stressed that in December 2021 at the Global Esports Games in Singapore, more than 500 million fans sat in front of the screens. Commonwealth Games chief Louise Martin made the following comments:

“I am delighted to announce the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships, which will take place in Birmingham this summer. Esports continues to grow massively in popularity and participation, particularly among young people, and we continue to look at ways to align this with the Commonwealth sports movement.”

Asian Games are already a step ahead

Incidentally, Asia is already a step ahead in terms of eSports. At the Asian Games 2022, League of Legends, FIFA and Dota 2 will be played as full-fledged sports.

No rethinking in sight in Germany

The integration into the Commonwealth Games is of course a further step for eSports, which should also lead towards the Olympics at some point. In Germany, meanwhile, eSports are still a long way from this acceptance. In October of last year, the outgoing German government still issued a very clear, unequivocal rule. eSports will not be recognized as a full-fledged sport.

The point has parallel implications for eSports betting. Bookmakers holding a German license are not allowed to offer betting odds on League of Legends, Dota 2 or CS:GO Counter Strike.