The official Olympics game ditched Mario & Sonic in favour of mobile & PC – but it’s also pushing NFTs

For the past couple of decades, the official Olympics video games have starred Mario and Sonic and been exclusive to Nintendo devices. Not so, this year. Olympics Go! Paris 2024 is free-to-play and available for PC via the Epic Games Store.

Hear the curl of the monkey’s paw? Yeah, it’s a mobile game port with the touchscreen prompts seemingly still intact, and its publisher is also pushing a “commemorative Paris 2024 NFT Digital Pin collection”.

“They wanted to look at other partners and NFTs and esports,” Lee Cocker told Eurogamer, regarding the decision to move the series away from Mario and Sonic. “Basically the IOC wanted to bring [it] back to themselves internally and look at other partners so they would get more money.”

Cocker was involved with several entries in the series while working at ISM Ltd, a firm responsible for managing the Olympic Games video game license.

Olympics Go! Paris 2024 is consequently now available from the Epic Games Store. It includes 12 mini-games, including sports such as archery, 100m sprint, golf and rowing, and the ability to expand Olympic venues with shops, cafés and upgraded statdiums using unlockables earned via competing in events.

The game is published by nWay, who also own the license for the official Olympics NFT Digital Pin. “You can claim a legendary or epic pin showcasing the Paris 2024 mascot holding a flag and waving. You can add these digital gems to your collection through Magic Eden’s friendly NFT marketplace as part of Coinbase’s Onchain Summer event. Be sure to have an ETH L2 Base-supported wallet to secure yours today,” says the Olympics Go! website.

I have a real fondness for Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games 2020. Its story mode was dismal, but the many, many sports it featured were mostly fun, and I’ve played dozens of hours of it with family, up to as recently as a few weeks ago. I’d have probably thrown down £50 to buy a 2024 iteration. It’s a shame that I now can’t, but also that I can’t celebrate an official Olympics game arriving on PC.