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Special Olympics USA to host its first-ever video game tournament

The organization is working with Xbox for the event.

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Special Olympics is holding its first-ever video game tournament in partnership with Xbox.

 Sarah Tew/CNET

Esports is coming to the Special Olympics. The organization announced Tuesday that its first-ever video game tournament will take place on July 2 as part of the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games in Seattle.

Special Olympics is partnering with Microsoft's Xbox division for the tournament, in which teams will compete in rounds of Forza Motorsport 7.

Competitors have been chosen from qualifier events that took place at Microsoft stores last month, creating eight "Unified" teams that will consist of one athlete with and one athlete without an intellectual disability.

"Many of our athletes are avid gamers, and research indicates playing video games can potentially boost cognitive and motor skills of people with intellectual disabilities," said Beth Knox in the announcement. Knox is the president and CEO of this year's games.