General
Esports Make Historic Debut at Santiago 2023 Pan American Games
Explore how esports have made their groundbreaking entry into the Pan American Games at Santiago 2023, featuring a dedicated arena and an unprecedented Pan American esports Championship.
Esports will debut at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. A new space dedicated to electronic sports has been established and hosts a unique championship that takes place in parallel to the other official competitions. This is a big improvement towards the professionalization of esports in the continent.
“This represents a monumental step forward. It is an honor to witness the fusion of traditional sports and esports in such a spectacular setting in Santiago” -Paul J. Foster, CEO of the Global Esports Federation
This event is the result of an agreement between the pan-American sports committee and the Global Esports Federation as part of the GEFestival, an homage to the esports culture. The eSports arena, located in the National Stadium Sports Park, hosts the Pan-American eSports Championship with 120 gamers from 25 countries.
Games Played
The two games played in this pan-American tournament are eFootball and Dota 2.
Efootball is the successor to the popular series of soccer games, Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), developed by the Japanese company Konami. Each player will have a soccer team of his choice under his command. They will use a direct elimination system where participants will face each other between November 2 and November 4. Dota 2 is one of the biggest online video games, with 8 million users from all over the world. Various countries will be represented in this tournament, following a format similar to that of other sports, with group stages, semifinals, and a grand final, which will be broadcast with awards for the winners. This tournament will also take place between 2 and 4 November, and there will be 500 tickets available for fans for every day of the competition.
Fan Experience
Video game enthusiasts will have the opportunity to try out consoles and equipment used by players during free access days at the esports arena. The space offers various games, from arcade machines with classics like Super Mario Bros or Pac-Man to a computer space that includes the popular League of Legends as well as various first-person shooting games.
Image by: Panam Sports
