Former Gaming Executive Argues for E-Sports in Olympics

Rob Pardo, former Chief Creative Officer at Blizzard Entertainment, boldly states that e-Sports should be introduced into the Olympics, based on the now-loose definition of the word sport.

In a recent interview with BBC News 5live, Rob Pardo announced that he thinks that e-Sports should be considered for the Olympics. Pardo pointed out that chess fans and players have been battling with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for years, however, and that e-Sports should probably fall under the same category.

"If you want to define sport as something that takes a lot of physical exertion, then it's hard to argue that video games should be a sport," Pardo stated. "But at the same time, when I'm looking at things that are already in the Olympics, I start questioning the definition."

The hard facts are that, as a spectator game, e-Sports championship tournaments turn out millions of viewers every year. This past League of Legends World Championship turned out a whopping 27 million unique viewers. Video games are also visually appealing -- "You can do whatever you want with the graphics, you can make it be really exciting and competitive," Pardo said. Pro players execute 300 actions per minute, which would also keep with the excitement of watching an e-Sports game pan out.

We'll just have to wait and see if anyone decides to even try to pitch an idea to the IOS for video games in the Olympics and, if they do, whether it will go anywhere.