“Don’t Try and Appeal to One Crowd”: World’s Fastest Paralympic Swimmer Condemns Insensitive Marketing by Olympics Esports Organizers

The Esports industry has seen a stark growth in its popularity in the last few years. The recent success and reception of Esports tournaments have earned them a spot in the big sporting leagues. The Olympics Committee recently announced its first Olympics Virtual Series, scheduled for 2023. While initially, the news brought joy to passionate gamers, many pointed out the shortcomings of the plan. One such disappointed fan was the Paralympic Champion, Rowan Crothers.

Rowan Crothers recently took to Twitter to express his dissatisfaction with the marketing of the upcoming series. Crothers claims that the organizers are catering to one set of audience and overlooking the other. He also accused them of being insensitive to the needs of gamers with disabilities. He asserts people with disabilities make up 15% of the population.

Rowan Crothers slams the Olympics Committee

Earlier this month, the Olympics Committee took to its official Twitter handle to urge gamers to prepare for the upcoming tournaments. Retweeting the Olympics’ tweet on 2nd March, Crothers called the Committee out for ignoring the people with disabilities. Crothers said that though he is the fastest swimmer with a disability in the world, he’ll never be at par with the Olympics swimmers. But Esports never let him feel that difference until now.

Rowan Crothers claimed, “In esports, I can compete at the highest level, with & against able-bodied players.” However, that won’t be possible in the kind of tournament the Olympics is organizing. Crothers asserts it “isn’t esports.” Directly addressing the Committee, he added, “If you’re building an esports strategy, make it one that uses already established titles. One that uses widely available, easily adaptable input devices like keyboards and mice.”

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He continued, “Don’t try and appeal to one crowd, just to cut off the 15% of the global population with a disability.” It is to be noted that after the announcement, Crothers wasn’t the only one disappointed with the rules of the tournament.

Fans in discontent as the first Olympic Esports tournament line-up is revealed

Being acknowledged by the Olympics as an event is a big achievement for the esports community. However, the games lined up for its first event have disappointed the fans. This is because two of the most popular games, namely Counter-Strike and Valorant, are not among the nine listed games.

However, unlike the organizers, fans want Valorant to be included in the tournaments. Fans believe that the line-up has been drawn by a “group of elders.” Moreover, some fans think that the event will also face technical difficulties in the future.

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With the massive discontentment in the sporting community after the recent announcement, what are your thoughts on what Rowan Crothers has pointed out?