Esports: Where does the sport go next after Commonwealth Games omission?

Members of the Singaporean women's Dota2 team

By Jay Freeman
BBC Sport

The 2022 Commonwealth Games saw a new fixture in its schedule as esports shared the stage alongside traditional sports such as athletics and swimming.

The trial was generally regarded as a success, as the Games looked to diversify its audience and appeal to a younger viewership.

However, competitive gaming will not feature in the 2026 Games, despite how this year's event was generally received.

BBC Sport took a look at how the esports industry reacted to the Games as well as where it goes next.

Pressure to perform at home Games

Over 100 players representing 20 Commonwealth nations competed for medals at Birmingham's International Convention Centre in three different games: Rocket League, Dota2 and eFootball.

The trial was generally viewed as a success, with the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Dame Louise Martin, telling the BBC: "Going forward this will be a sport within the Games - that's my personal opinion."

England won a total of five medals, including one gold medal, three silver and one bronze, more than any other participating country.

Team manager Mark Weller has since joined Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 - one of the most successful teams in Formula 1 esports - as their team manager shortly after the Games.

Weller told BBC Sport: "I'm really proud of everyone and really appreciate the work that everyone's put in over the past few months.

"You just feel this weight off your shoulders. The pressure wasn't put on me by anyone else. It was more the pressure I felt myself to perform for the country.

"Knowing it was a pilot event, I wanted us to do extremely well. As well, it being a home event, I think that kind of compounded it all."

Keeping the esports conversation going

Alia Harvey started posting videos of playing Fifa online in 2021 and has gathered a following of over 100,000 on TikTok and 62,000 on Twitch.

She capped off her rise in competitive gaming by winning bronze for England in the Women's eFootball event, a game which she did not have much experience with before the Games.

Harvey told BBC Sport: "I think the whole event was incredible. We were really excited and not thinking of it as a pilot event. We just saw it as a chance to represent our country and do well.

"I think it was a good starting point. But I think what's more important is what comes afterwards. They have to keep that continuation going after the event.

"If you don't follow up with it, people slowly will start to forget about it."

Where does esports go next?

Confetti and Tom P Morley

Confetti X played host to the preliminary rounds of the Commonwealth Esports Championships this summer

The esports industry is growing fast. Guild Esports, a team backed by former England football captain David Beckham, recently signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Sky, a deal being touted as the "largest in European esports history".

The team have also clinched sponsorship deals with big-name brands such as Coca-Cola, Samsung and Subway.

As yet the 2026 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee has not given any specific reasons for the U-turn over including esports at the Games.

The sport is thriving in England, however, as Confetti X, a £5m esports complex based in Nottingham with state-of-the-art facilities and a 100-seater arena, spearheads the growth of the sport.

"The interest in esports is growing rapidly, the amount of people participating in esports is growing rapidly as well," chief operations officer at British Esports, David Martin, told BBC East Midlands Today.

"The team at Confetti have been involved in esports for years now. What we're talking about here are state-of-the-art production facilities for people to come and train and educate themselves on how to use this equipment.

"But also it helps players, like the finalists from our student championships, to be in an arena space and get that full production feeling and enjoy a live event."

Confetti X, which is part of Nottingham Trent University, offers degree courses and postgraduate courses in esports and event production, but also played host to the preliminary rounds of the Commonwealth Esports Championship.

"The key ethos here is to do it for real, which is what Confetti is about and there's some synergy there," David Jackson, managing director of the the National University Esports League added.

"They've got students there doing all sorts of exciting things, we've got practical opportunities for them to test that in real world paid environments.

"There's a huge opportunity here. Confetti have done a fantastic job of positioning themselves as a hub of esports in the East Midlands and there's room for that sort of thing to be developing in the middle of the country.

"Nottingham has the potential and Confetti is the anchor for that."