The Intel World Open esports tournament will take place just before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, it was today announced.
The tournament will focus on both Street Fighter 5 and Rocket League and kicks off with online qualifiers in early 2020. A live qualifier event will then take place in June in Katowice, Pland, to determine the teams that will compete against one another in Tokyo between 22-24 July 2020.
“We are excited Intel is bringing the Intel World Open esports tournament to Japan in the lead up to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020,” said Kit McConnell, IOC Sports Director. “As we explore the engagement between esports and the Olympic Movement we are looking forward to learning from this event and continuing to engage with the passionate esports community from around the world.”
The total prize pools for both events have been set at $250,000 USD each.
The pre-Olympics event may be the closest we’ll get to having Esports included; back in September of last year, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared that Esports were too violent for the Olympics itself.
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