The Korean eSport Association (KeSPA) was able to push for the accreditation of eSports as a 2nd-level Olympic sport by the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC).

The decision was made by the Korea Sports Council’s board of directors during a conference at the Seoul Olympic Parktel yesterday, Jan. 27, 2015.

During the conference, KeSPA was one of four member organizations who ratified their affiliation to the KOC.

The recognition by the KOC will serve as an endorsement to the larger International Olympic Committee (IOC), which oversees the inclusion and exclusion of sporting events in the Olympics.

For months, gaming organizations and owners of popular eSports titles such as Blizzard and Riot have made public comments in South Korea about the possibility of video games and eSports titles being recognized as Olympic sports. With KeSPA’s recognition by the KOC, the likelihood of such video games being included during the Summer Olympics has increased.

On popular social media sharing site Reddit, League of Legends fans and players lamented the move by KeSPA, stating that the inclusion of eSports into the Olympics is problematic, owing to the multitude of eSports titles currently in the market.

User daydriem wrote, “Why is this a thing? E-Sports is not one single discipline, how would that even work? I am all on board for having a separate e-olympics, but adding e-sports to the olympics seems like the IOC is desperate for some ‘youth infusion.”

“They must be unhappy with their image as it is. But what would you even count as e-sport? Is it league? Starcraft? And consider that the olympics are only every 4 years. Some games don’t even have a lifespan that long!”