Sega Japan Esport & 2020 Olympics

Get ready for "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020," exclusively on Nintendo Switch this winter and "Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - The Official Video Game" for PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and Steam next year!

While we're used to seeing Nintendo's leaders playing games publicly on a regular basis, you don't always see the same thing elsewhere. That's why the promotional clip (see below) for the recently released title Puyo Puyo Champions is so exciting.

Overlooking the fact the game is being played on a PlayStation 4, we get a rare glimpse of Sega Sammy Holdings President, Satomi Haruki, playing the obscure but insanely addictive tile-matching puzzler. He starts off with a defeat in the game's verse mode and then spends the rest of his time attempting to create a chain. It takes him a while, but he eventually manages to pull off a five chain combo on his eighth go.

Today’s launch of Puyo Puyo Champions makes more sense when you know its Japanese title – Puyo Puyo eSports. This is Sega’s attempt to push the cute puzzler into the competitive sphere

The Japan Esports Union (JESU) announced that it will accelerate efforts to enhance the recognition of esports in Japan to prepare for its possible appearance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as an exhibition event.

According to a report by the Japan Times, the union said will be establishing regional branches across 11 prefectures in the country to provide education and training on organizing esports tournaments.

The planned regional branches will also assist in developing and training local esports players to widen Japan’s pool of esports talent. JESU states that they will begin branching out by January next year.

The announcement came in light of the esports market in Japan growing by an astounding ¥4.8 billion or about $42.5 million this year.

“The popularity of esports has grown from last year to this year and we will push it to a new stage next year,” said JESU chairman Hideki Okamura.

The union also said that a crucial step in raising the level of skill of Japanese esports athletes is to dispatch them to international tournaments or by organizing matches with competitive foreign players.

So far, Japanese players have been dominant in fighting games such as the Street Fighter series and Dragonball FighterZ, among others. However, they have yet to break through to other major esports titles, such as Dota 2, League of Legends, and Overwatch. This is largely due to the PC market in Japan paling in comparison to that of the console and handheld gaming platforms.

I’m seeing double, here; four Tokyo 2020 Olympics video games coming to consoles, arcade and smartphones starting as early as this summer.
Sports video games outside of annualized licensed titles from EA, 2K and SIE are few and far between. If you can’t print money with them via ultimate teams and other similar fantasy modes, then it’s hard to find a mainstream interest. That hasn’t stopped Sega from going all in ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, however.

The Japanese games giant will be releasing four video games in preparation for the summer games next year, with the earliest release coming later this year. Details of the four games came via an announcement on Twitter, with Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: The Official Video Game coming to PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch next year.

TOKYO -- Japan's three esports organizations have merged into a single entity, as stakeholders look to pump up the country's nascent esports market.

Esports, or competitive gaming, is rapidly growing in popularity around the world, with Asian countries, especially China and South Korea, leading the way. Japan has so far lagged behind, but the newly formed Japan Esports Union, or JESU, will try to change that.

"The global audience for esports is set to reach 300 million people by 2019, and 500 million by 2020. That is no different from real-life sports," said Hideki Okamura, representative director of JESU and executive vice president of Sega Sammy Holdings, at a news conference announcing the merger on Thursday in Tokyo.