With the upcoming inaugural edition of the Olympic Esports Games taking place in 2025, the FIA have announced their intentions to head up the designated sim racing event and are looking for developers to partner with.
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile motorsport governing body have begun the process to identify potential partners to collaborate with for the upcoming inaugural Olympic Esports Games' virtual motorsport competition. All interested parties have until 5pm CET on 18 October to put forward their bid to the FIA.
According to the official FIA release, the opportunity is open for one or more developers to join the bid. It would either see a pre-existing title or even potentially an all-new platform to be developed especially for the Olympic Esports Games.
In that time, the first ever FIA Motorsport Games - motorsport's equivalent to the Olympics - were held with sim racing as one of the foundational events. The 2019 edition saw players compete on Gran Turismo Sport and it was Australia that won gold with Kodi Nikola Latkovski.
The delayed second edition in 2022 saw the competition moved to event organiser SRO's preferred platform Assetto Corsa Competizione, with James Baldwin winning gold for the UK at Paul Ricard. The next edition of the FIA Motorsport Games will be held from October 23 to 27, with two sim racing competitions taking place with GT cars on ACC and F4 cars on iRacing.
But it is not just the FIA's version of the Olympics that have had sim racing, the International Olympic Committee have hosted sim racing events. In the lead-up to the Tokyo games in 2021, the Olympic Virtual Series was held and in the Motor Sport competition on GT Sport, Italy won gold with Valerio Gallo. Then in 2023, the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore saw France's Kylian Drumont take the spoils.
After those two events, the IOC voted unanimously back in July to create the Olympic Esports Games. With the FIA's intention to lead the charge for the virtual motorsport event, it remains to be seen what avenue they will choose to go down with regards to what platform will result from the impending partnership.
Which sim racing game do you hope wins the FIA partnership bid ahead of the Olympic Esports Games? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our forums!
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile motorsport governing body have begun the process to identify potential partners to collaborate with for the upcoming inaugural Olympic Esports Games' virtual motorsport competition. All interested parties have until 5pm CET on 18 October to put forward their bid to the FIA.
According to the official FIA release, the opportunity is open for one or more developers to join the bid. It would either see a pre-existing title or even potentially an all-new platform to be developed especially for the Olympic Esports Games.
FIA / Olympic Sim Racing History
This bid is just the latest in a range of steps by the FIA to increase the prominence of sim racing in competitive events. Starting in 2018, the official Gran Turismo championships began with FIA-certification and official involvement, which continued until the end of 2021.In that time, the first ever FIA Motorsport Games - motorsport's equivalent to the Olympics - were held with sim racing as one of the foundational events. The 2019 edition saw players compete on Gran Turismo Sport and it was Australia that won gold with Kodi Nikola Latkovski.
The delayed second edition in 2022 saw the competition moved to event organiser SRO's preferred platform Assetto Corsa Competizione, with James Baldwin winning gold for the UK at Paul Ricard. The next edition of the FIA Motorsport Games will be held from October 23 to 27, with two sim racing competitions taking place with GT cars on ACC and F4 cars on iRacing.
But it is not just the FIA's version of the Olympics that have had sim racing, the International Olympic Committee have hosted sim racing events. In the lead-up to the Tokyo games in 2021, the Olympic Virtual Series was held and in the Motor Sport competition on GT Sport, Italy won gold with Valerio Gallo. Then in 2023, the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore saw France's Kylian Drumont take the spoils.
After those two events, the IOC voted unanimously back in July to create the Olympic Esports Games. With the FIA's intention to lead the charge for the virtual motorsport event, it remains to be seen what avenue they will choose to go down with regards to what platform will result from the impending partnership.
Which sim racing game do you hope wins the FIA partnership bid ahead of the Olympic Esports Games? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our forums!
