Seven sets of medals are on offer in esports’ first appearance as a medal sport at an Asian Games, ranging from the likes of EA Sports FC Online (formerly FIFA4 Online) to classic esports favourite League of Legends.It is the time of esports.
Just three months after the inaugural Olympic Esports Series, seven game titles will be official medal events at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, in an Asian Games first.
The sport was given full medal status at a meeting of the Olympic Council of Asia in 2017, with esports appearing at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, as demonstration events.
It builds on esports’ prior appearances at the Asian Indoor Games from 2007 to 2013 as a medal event (and in 2017 as a demonstration event), as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Esports Championships, held in parallel with that year’s Commonwealth Games as a demonstration event.
Esports, which has a big footprint in Asia especially in mobile games, is expected to be one of the most popular spectator events at the Asian Games.
Tickets to the esports events, to be held at the China Hangzhou Esports Centre, have been sold through a ballot lottery due to its popularity. Nearly every session of esports competition is expected to be a 5,000 sell-out.
“Asian esports has become a thriving industry, unleashing enormous potential and connecting people from different backgrounds, cultures, and countries,” Asian Esports Federation president Huo Qigang has previously told media.
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