The Olympic committee claimed the Tokyo games won’t be canceled, but with the crisis still unfolding it seems they changed their mind for the better. The Intel World Open which was tied to the Olympics moved its qualifiers and the final event remains unchanged for now.
Just a week ago the International Olympic Committee claimed they won’t be changing the date of this year’s Olympic Games. Many were skeptical about that statement and expected a different outcome. Previously French Olympic Committee president Denis Masseglia mentioned that if the coronavirus situation isn’t contained by May, he simply couldn’t see the Olympics happening on time. It seems the IOC realized the gravity of the situation and didn’t wait for May to come, as news arrived yesterday. Both Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the IOC agreed that the games have to be delayed. Since canceling was out of the question, the parties agreed to a postponement to 2021 was in order. Abe stated:
We agreed that a postponement would be the best way to ensure that the athletes are in peak condition when they compete and to guarantee the safety of the spectators.
The Tokyo Olympics were originally scheduled for July 24, but the new date for 2021 is still not clear.
The Intel World Open
Tied directly with the Olympics was an esports event – the Intel World Open. A rare case indeed, when esports were about to enter the Olympics, but maybe it wasn’t meant to be this year. Intel and the IOC announced the event which is still scheduled for July 22-24. The World Open will feature two popular esports titles – Street Fighter V and Rocket League.
The Prize
The prize pool for the Intel World Open is set at $500,000 shared directly between the two games. This will be one of the biggest rewards for both titles, as it easily trumps the prize as EVO which is one of the prestige events.
Street Fighter V
Street Fighter V comes as a natural choice since the Olympics themselves and the event in question are both taking place in Japan. SFV is developed and published by the Japanese giant Capcom, a company also known for numerous other titles like Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Mega Man and more. SFV had a rough time at launch as many criticized the game for being incomplete, but over the last few years Capcom have managed to patch things up and now it’s finally what it should’ve been all along. The Street Fighter pro scene is one of the oldest ones in esports as it dates back to Street Fighter II in 1991.
Rocket League
The second choice for Intel World Open is Rocket League, developed and published by Psyonix. Rocket League is no doubt a popular title nowadays, but it has less to do with actual sports, unlike Street Fighter where people fight in rounds. Despite that Rocket League was a good choice, since one of the first requirements from the IOC for a game to be tied to the Olympics was the promotion of good physical and mental health and the lack of violence. Psyonix’s title is basically football with remote-controlled cars so it fills it all.
The online qualifiers which were set for March 20 got moved to May, so the organizers will have enough time to decide if the event is actually going to happen. Live qualifiers will follow in Katowice, Poland on June 11-14 and the finals are planned for July 22-24 in Zepp Divercity, Tokyo. We already saw the IEM Katowice close its gates so both the live qualifiers and the finals are quite uncertain at this point.
On the plus side, anyone can join these events and with the delays in qualifiers, if you wanted to give it a shot, you still have a chance.
