(ATR) The rights holder for Olympic interactive entertainment software tells Around the Rings that Russia’s suspension by the International Olympic Committee won’t keep the country out of the latest Olympic video game.
Released on Dec. 5, Steep: Road to the Olympics is a winter sports simulator and expansion to the Steep snowboarding video game that features an athlete attempting to qualify for and compete in February’s PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.
The release of the expansion came on the same day as the IOC decision to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee ahead of PyeongChang 2018 yet allow neutral Russian athletes a pathway to compete in the Games. The suspension follows revelations and investigation into Russia's massive doping schemes during the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.
Russians who qualify for PyeongChang 2018 won’t do so under the Russian flag and will hear the Olympic anthem instead of Russia’s if they make it on the podium in South Korea.
International Sports Multimedia chairman and CEO Raymond Goldsmith confirmed to ATR that there are "no planned changes to the expansion" despite Russia’s suspension. ISM has held the official license for the Olympics in the video game market since Barcelona 1992. Steep is one of two video games ahead of PyeongChang 2018 allowed to utilize Olympic symbols and phrases.
Goldsmith said a call was held between ISM and game publisher Ubisoft on Dec. 12 where Russia's IOC suspension was discussed.
Patches to video games are often sent out after the initial release to correct errors in the game code or address other unforeseen issues. For instance, popular football simulator FIFA by EA Sports has removed players from the active rosters due to off-the-field inappropriate conduct.
The plot of Steep: Road to the Olympics is to become an Olympics "legend", first choosing which country you wish to represent and then competing in a series of qualifying and practice events before eventually competing in the Games themselves.
Russia remains an option for players to select and Russian athletes will be on display as competitors during the qualifying and Olympic events.
Players can compete in the disciplines of big air, downhill, giant slalom, parallel giant slalom, halfpipe, cross-country, slalom, slopestyle and super-g. The game includes real-life locations in South Korea and Japan.
The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games run from Feb. 9-25.
Vote now for your favorite sports city! The Sports City Poll closes Dec. 31. The poll ranks the top 50 cities most strongly associated with sport. Results January 2018.
Written by Kevin Nutley
Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
