Intel to Sponsor Olympic Street Fighter V, Rocket League Tournaments

Video Games are the future, both casually and competitively. To solidify this, computer technology manufacturer Intel will be sponsoring their own eSports competition at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

The event, referred to as the Intel World Open, will feature Rocket League and Street Fighter V tournaments. Each game will have their own $250,000 prize pool, where players from around the world will gather to represent their country.

To qualify, players will compete online during an open qualifier period in early 2020. From there, a national team will be determined. These teams will then be sent to a live qualifying event in Katowice, Poland, in June. The finalists of the qualifying event will then be sent to the Zepp DiverCity venue in Tokyo to participate in the last bout of games, taking place right before the official Olympics begin.

According to a statement to eSports Observer by Intel eSports head Mark Subotnick, they specifically chose Rocket League and Street Fighter V due to their large familiarity to the masses.

"These two titles are something that the average consumer or audience member can look at and get whats going on, and thats unfortunately not always the case in esports. So that makes a lot of sense to work with these two partners."

It's worth noting that this is not an official Olympics event, but a separate event hosted in conjunction. eSports is still a growing to the general population and many folks not familiar with the practice don't consider it a sport, let alone one that qualifies for the Olympics. I say "butts" to them! Fortunately, Intel's efforts give us a small look at what a global competition in the gaming industry can look like.