After six games over the past 17 years, there is somewhat surprisingly no Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games installment for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. This decision to cut ties with Nintendo and Sega reportedly lies at the hands of the International Olympic Committee, which decided instead to work with new partners as well as focus on NFTs and esports.
According to Eurogamer, the IOC didn’t renew a deal with Nintendo and Sega after Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020–the last entry in the franchise. “They wanted to look at other partners and NFTs and esports,” said Lee Cocker, who worked on the series and spoke with Eurogamer. “Basically the IOC wanted to bring [it] back to themselves internally and look at other partners so they would get more money.”
Cocker spent almost two decades at ISM Fantasy Games, a company that counts itself as one of the “creators of the worldwide Mario & Sonic Olympic Games series.” ISM also touts that the now-discontinued franchise “sold over 30 million copies.”
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games began in 2007 on Wii, with the title celebrating the 2008 Beijing Games. It’s also notable for teaming up the two iconic mascots, especially after the console wars between Nintendo and Sega in the 1990s.
Eurogamer points out that instead of Mario & Sonic, the IOC has Olympic Go! Paris 2024 as the main video game release for this year’s Olympics. It’s a free-to-play title available on mobile and PC. And yes, there are NFT digital pins to collect separately, as well. Meanwhile, next year, the IOC is bringing the 2025 Olympic Esports to Saudi Arabia.
