- The Olympic Council of Asia has announced that eight esports will be played as medal sports at Asian Games 2022
- With a rich roster of both mobile and PC games, the event will follow SEA Games in the initiative of popularizing esports as professional sporting events
- Esports as a whole has received a much wider recognition by official sporting bodies and leagues
The Olympic Council of Asia revealed eight video games that will be played as medal sports at the next year’s Asian Games edition.
Eight Games to Be Played as Medal Sports
The rise of esports as officialized medal sports continues. A few months after the International Olympic Committee announced that SEA Games 2021 will include eight competitive games as medal sports, the Olympic Council of Asia has decided to add esports to the Asian Games 2022 menu.
The Asian Games 2022 event will also include eight titles as medal sports for the first time in its history. However, the big competition has decided on a slightly different roster than its Southeast Asian counterpart. Here is the lineup that was announced:
- Arena of Valor / Honor of Kings
- Dota 2
- Dream Three Kingdoms 2
- EA Sports FIFA
- Hearthstone
- League of Legends
- PUBG Mobile / Peacekeeper Elite
- Street Fighter V
Once again similar to the SEA Games 2021, Asian Games 2022 has selected a range of both PC and mobile games in order to reach a wider audience and give representation to various forms of esports.
OCA’s director, Husain Al-Musallam, spoke on the announcement. He hopes that with the news in place, teams will have enough time to prepare until the qualifiers in 2022.
“I believe we have ticked all the right boxes ensuring a high level of competition which promises great viewing for enthusiasts and casuals alike,” Al-Musallam added.
The qualifiers and the event itself will be operated by the Asian Electronic Sports Federation. The AESF will also organize non-medal demonstrative events in Robot Masters and VR Sports.
Esports’ Entrance in Professional Sporting Events
Esports have recently gained traction in the sporting world as numerous traditional sports bodies have opened up to the idea of esports. Moreover, esports has been gaining momentum through partnerships with other sport-related companies.
Asian Games’ 2018 edition included an esports segment that was only for demonstration. The first to run esports as medal sports was SEA Games’ 2019 edition. Esports has reached an even wider acknowledgment as the Olympic Committee itself held its own official esports competition in sports-inspired esports games earlier this year.
