More than 40% of people in their 30s and younger in Japan think that esports will be an Olympic sport in the future, a poll by Jiji Press showed.
Esports are increasingly drawing attention, as people can play them regardless of age or physical strength.
In the survey, 33.9% of respondents said they think that esports will be an Olympic sport in the future, while 30.8% said they do not think so.
The share of respondents who thought that esports would be an Olympic sport in the future was 43.7% among those between the ages of 18 and 29, and 42.5% among those in their 30s.
The survey also showed that 48.0% of respondents thought that esports would become popular as a sport, while 19.6% said they did not think so.
Respondents who thought that esports would become popular as a sport accounted for 71.4% of those between the ages of 18 and 29, while only 23.6% of those older than age 70 said they thought so.
The survey found that respondents who said they had watched esports competitions live online accounted for 7.7%. The share was 22.2% among those between the ages of 18 and 29, and 20.5% among those in their 30s.
The International Olympic Committee last month approved plans to create the Olympic Esports Games, first edition of which will be held in Saudi Arabia next year.
The poll was conducted between July 5 and 8 and targeted 2,000 people older than 18 years old, with 58.4% of them responding to the poll.