Recently, the official website of the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (OCA) announced that Esports has been approved as a medal event at the Asian Games – Hangzhou 2022, to be held in Hangzhou, China (ASIAD 2022).
Specifically, the OCA stated that it reached a consensus with the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee to approve the inclusion of 8 esports disciplines as medal events at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, which will kick off in September next year, along with 2 other demonstration events.
An official announcement from the ASIAN Games Organising Committee is expected to be made today, September 8.
The 8 medal events include:
League of Legends.
Arena of Valor (the Asian release of Wang Zhe Rong Yao).
DOTA 2.
Hearthstone.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2.
FIFA.
PUBG Mobile.
Street Fighter Duel.
The 2 demonstration events include:
AESF Robot Masters.
AESF VR Sports.
It is noteworthy that these 8 Esports disciplines will be medal events, meaning the achievements of participating teams will count towards the overall medal tally of each country’s sports delegation. Therefore, winning a medal in Esports now holds the same significance as winning a medal in traditional sports. This is in stark contrast to the 2018 ASIAN Games, where Esports was just a demonstration event.
At the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games held in Indonesia, Esports was listed as a demonstration event, featuring 6 titles including Arena of Valor, Clash Royale, Hearthstone, League of Legends, PES, and StarCraft II.
Vietnam had athletes competing in all 6 events, winning 4 Bronze Medals. Meanwhile, the Chinese delegation topped the medal count with 3 Gold Medals in League of Legends, Arena of Valor, and Clash Royale. Of course, as a demonstration sport, these medals did not count towards the overall performance of the participating sports delegations at that ASIAN Games.
