With eSports under consideration for a medal sport in the 2024 Olympics, Japan may be ready to loosen its laws regarding contests.
The website for the 2024 games—to be held in Paris—reported that Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party may propose amendments to the country’s gambling laws, which currently block paid eSports contests.
Takeo Kawamura, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s LDP, said the ruling party is considering removing obstacles that could keep the country from competing in medal eSports games.
“If we need more legal wiggle room to hold tournaments, we can use a special law or other provisions as needed,” Kawamura told the website. “Once we have a gold medalist like, say, Daichi Suzuki, then people will begin to see that video games are a sport,” he said, referring to the celebrated swimmer.
ESports are a quickly growing business in Asia including China and South Korea. By 2020, total revenue from eSports is expected by some analysts to will reach $5 billion annually.
In November, lawmakers from both the LDP and the opposition formed a coalition supporting eSports, with Kawamura as its chairman. The industry also announced plans to issue licenses to exempt eSports professionals from gambling laws, the report said.
Japan’s first video game tournament using the new licenses will be held Feb. 9 to 11 at the Makuhari Messe convention center near Tokyo. Konami Holdings Corp., Mixi Inc. and three other local companies will supply the game titles. Prizes have yet to be announced, the report said.
“We want to hold an international tournament as soon as possible,” Kawamura said. “If eSports becomes an Olympic medal sport, we must field a strong Japanese team.”
