It featured a mix of both physical sport taking place in a virtual world, such as in Zwift, as well as sports-based video games such as Gran Turismo.

[13] Sports included in that were baseball, cycling, motorsport, rowing, and sailing[14] – four of which would return as part of the Olympic Esports Series in 2023.

[22] Eight Olympians competed in the taekwondo event: Wu Jingyu from China, who ended up winning bronze; Rohullah Nikpai of Afghanistan; Leonardo Basile (Italy); Aaron Cook (Great Britain and Moldova); Carmen Marton of Australia; Yasmina Aziez from France; Hwang Kyung-seon of South Korea; and Nur Tatar of Turkey.

[26] Additionally, the chess event featured nine grandmasters and one female International Master: Aleksei Sarana, Maksim Chigaev, Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn, Aleksandr Rakhmanov, Oleksandr Bortnyk, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, Bassem Amin, Tin Jingyao, Kevin Goh, and Irene Kharisma Sukandar.

[39] NBA 2K23 was held as a single round-robin event with no official winner, and was contested by the national eFIBA teams of Philippines, Brazil, and Türkiye.

[39] The primary criticism when the Olympic Esports Series was announced was the IOC's choice of game titles,[40][41] with only Gran Turismo and Just Dance having significant global recognition and Power Pros within Japan.

The list of nine initial titles was described by Polygon as "odd", although the IOC's explanation was that the games chosen aligned with the Olympic Values and were proposed by international sports governing bodies.

[42] Many involved with the esports industry were unhappy with the game list, with The Guardian quoting a digital agency representative as saying: "Last week’s announcement left us feeling disappointed and, honestly, a little embarrassed.

[46] After the conclusion of the first event, the lack of participation from African players was criticised, with an opinion piece in Kenya's Daily Nation questioning the decision of the IOC to use online qualifiers for the Olympic Esports Series, due to connectivity and stability issues in Africa which make staying connected to servers a "logistical challenge".