The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and Konami Digital Entertainment today held a press conference announcing an official partnership to deliver the baseball event at the inaugural Olympic Virtual Series (OVS), with KONAMI’s eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020 to serve as the official OVS baseball event platform.
The WBSC, with the sport of baseball, last week was appointed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be among the sports/international federations of the inaugural OVS, the IOC’s first-ever Olympic-licensed virtual competition.
WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari said: "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 a part of this innovative and exciting new IOC product, 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 said: "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 Olympic Virtual Series with eBASEBALL Powerful Pro Baseball 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 said: "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 sports/international federations 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.
Online Qualifiers Period: Monday, 24 May 2021 (10:00) - Sunday, May 30, 2021
Final Round Schedule: Wednesday, 23 June 2021
Details on how to participate and rules regarding the OVS baseball competition will be released at a later stage.
Last December, the WBSC approved virtual sports as a discipline of baseball and softball, setting the stage for future official virtual baseball and softball international competitions like the OVS and World Cups.
Konami Digital Entertainment will continue to deliver fun and new excitement to our customers through various initiatives.
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