World Exhibition Games

The World Exhibition Games, commonly known as the Expo Games or World Expo, are a international sporting event featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a. The Exhibition Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 30 nations participating. The Exhibition Games are normally held every four years.

The Expo Games have their origins in continental exhibitions of the 19th century, which were large and ostentatious events intended to show off the industrial progress and power of Amphian and Escaric colonial powers. Exhibition Sports were first introduced in the 1861 Niihama exhibition, the first world expo to be held in Yamatai, which featured demonstrations of various national martial arts and sporting pasttimes, such as and. In 1873, the All-Zusian World's Fair introduced the first competitive events, which were open on an invitational basis to international athletes. This proved to be a hit, and similar competitions would soon be organised at other events in subsequent years, such as the Amphian Games. Zusea and Chisei co-sponsored the founding of an International Games Council in 1892, leading to the first true World Expo in Járnfjördur, Meriad in 1894. In 1905 the IGC was reformed as the World Games Federation, an association of national games committees.

The WGF is the governing body of the Expo Games, and also administers related events such as the Parexpo for disabled athletes, the four continental games (Escaric, Amphian, Valeyan and Osovan) and the Global Games for sports that are not contested at the Expo.

The Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, doping, bribery, and terrorism. Every two years the World Exhibition and its media exposure provide athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games also provide an opportunity for the host city and country to showcase themselves to the world.

Mid-century cancellations
The Games were not held for a period of 17 years after the 1930 Expo, as the cancellation of the 1934 event in Zusea (due to the outbreak of the Endwar) was shortly followed by deterioriating geopolitical situations in Escar and Valeya as well, with the outbreak of the Second Escar-Varunan War in 1937. With the general destruction and chaos caused by the mid-20th century wars, there was little enthusiasm or interest in the event until the surprise success of the 1942 Soldiers Games in Zusea (predecessor of the modern Parexpo) organised by veterans associations from Zusea and Valourium.

The World Games Federation was revived in 1943, and began plans to organise the first postwar event in Havenstad, Zeeduyn. Initially slated for 1945, the event was delayed to 1947 after an embezzlement scandal in the Duynish Organising Committee.