The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and Konami Digital Entertainment today held an online press conference announcing an official partnership to deliver the baseball event at the inaugural Olympic Virtual Series (OVS), with Konami’s “eBASEBALL PAWAFURU PUROYAKYU 2020” to serve as the official OVS baseball event platform.
The WBSC, with the sport of baseball, last week was selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be among the founding members of the OVS, the IOC’s first-ever Olympic-licensed virtual sports global competition.
<WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari Comment>
“Congratulations to the IOC and President Thomas Bach on launching this pinnacle virtual sports competition. It’s a great honor for baseball and the WBSC to be amongst the founding members of this innovative and exciting new chapter in Olympic history, and that’s why it was important for WBSC to partner with one of the leading gaming publishers in the world, KONAMI. Baseball video games have long been amongst the most produced and most popular sports video games in the industry, and we, together with our official partner KONAMI, will do all we can to successfully realize the vision of the IOC.”
<Konami Digital Entertainment Representative Director, President Hideki Hayakawa Comment>
“We continue to take on the challenge of developing virtual sports and esports by hosting events such as the ‘eBASEBALL Pro League’ and adopting the title for the Asian Games demonstration event. We are delighted to be able to contribute to the promotion of the Olympics with ‘eBASEBALL PAWAFURU PUROYAKYU 2020’. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to IOC President Bach and WBSC President Fraccari for providing us with this opportunity.”
<IOC President Thomas Bach Comment>
“The Olympic Virtual Series is a new, unique Olympic digital experience that aims to grow direct engagement with new audiences in the field of virtual sports. Its conception is in line with Olympic Agenda 2020+5 and the IOC’s digital strategy. It encourages sports participation and promotes the Olympic values with a special focus on youth.”
Other international federations/sports featured at the inaugural Olympic Virtual Series include cycling, rowing, sailing and motorsports.
The OVS will begin on 13 May, with the finals set for 23 June, the annual Olympic Day. The baseball event online qualifier will run from 24-30 May.
Details on how to participate and rules regarding the OVS baseball competition will be released on the official KONAMI Olympic Virtual Series Official Website at https://e-baseball.konami.net/ovs/_/.
Last December, the WBSC approved eSports as a discipline of baseball and softball, setting the stage for future official eBaseball and eSoftball international competitions like the OVS and World Cups.
| Online Qualifiers Period: | Monday, May 24, 2021 (10:00) – Sunday, May 30, 2021 (23:59) |
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| Final Round Schedule: | Wednesday, June 23, 2021 *To be broadcasted on Olympic Channel |
Konami Digital Entertainment will continue to deliver fun and new excitement to our customers through various initiatives.
