UK government backs the eGames at Rio 2016

The UK government has given its backing to the eGames, an international esports event which’ll take place during the Olympics in Rio this summer.

Announced by the International eGames Committee (IEGC) earlier this week four countries have already confirmed their involvement; the UK, hosts Brazil, the USA and Canada. In true Olympic style there’ll be no cash rewards for the contestants, merely national pride and a gold, silver or bronze medals for the best on show during the two day pop up event.

The announcement of the launch of the eGames took place at the London Games Festival on April 6th, and the plans only begin in Rio with future events planned to coincide with each Olympics both date and location wise.

The UK Minister for Culture Ed Vaizey had this to say about the event: “The eGames promises to be an exciting venture that will give eSports competitors across the UK even more opportunities to showcase their talents on an international stage. I welcome the ambitions of the IEGC and their efforts to promote the UK as a leading nation in the eSports sector.”

The IEGC is a not for profit initiative which has the aim of positively influencing the future of competitive gaming.

Teams representing each nation at eGames events will be a mixture of male and female but all must be aged 18 or over.