Brandon Beck believes "e-sports will be an Olympic event"

The Riot Games co-founder believes gaming has the credentials to join the elite.

London 2012 may be over, but it seems Olympic fever is still about. Potential events at future Games are often discussed, but Brandon Beck believes gaming should be contested at future Olympiads.

"We don't have our sights set on replacing soccer right now, but we definitely think that e-sports has a place as a large, important, mainstream competitive activity," Beck told GI.

"I fundamentally believe that e-sports will be an Olympic event in my lifetime."

For this to happen, Beck says companies must build sustainable infrastructure for e-sports to excel in across many years.

"It's important for companies to not just say they're excited about e-sports, but to actually make commitments: from a development standpoint and from a financial standpoint," he said. "These players have to make a massive commitment to become pro-athletes, so there has to be a viable career path for that to grow into anything."

Competitive gaming is huge in Korea, where many players take to the local cafes for a spot of multiplayer. Beck claims the market is ready for substantial growth across the world, but that potential suitors must approach the area with quality ideas.

"The innovation going forward in e-sports is all going to be around the quality of broadcasts, the quality of live events, the quality of the leagues themselves."