The list of Esports disciplines for ASIAD 2026 has left the community in shock
Recently, VIRESA announced the list of Esports disciplines that will be competed in ASIAD 2026, scheduled to take place in Aichi Nagoya, Japan. Accordingly, a series of famous titles such as League of Legends, PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and Street Fighter 6 will be featured… However, there are some notable absences, specifically FC Online and Arena of Valor.
Replacing FC Online will be eFootball – a football game with gameplay similar to FC Online but still quite unfamiliar to Vietnamese gamers. Meanwhile, Arena of Valor is only truly popular in a few countries, so its exclusion is understandable, and Honor of Kings has taken its place.
Of course, some titles characteristic of the host country cannot be missed, such as Pokémon Unite and Naraka: Bladepoint. Notably, Naraka: Bladepoint is also a favorite game of SofM and had previously invited the former Suning star to be a brand ambassador, even designing a character based on the appearance of MGN Vikings Esports coach. This has sparked many questions about whether SofM will compete in this tournament with the aforementioned RPG.
The Vietnamese Esports community is also buzzing about the ASIAD 2026 list
According to many opinions, with a few titles like Pokémon Unite, Street Fighter 6, Puyo Puyo… the Gold Medal will be hard to escape from the host nation since these are all specialties of Japanese gamers. However, fans are still eagerly awaiting the list of disciplines that the Vietnamese Esports team will register.
The absence of Arena of Valor and FC Online from the ASIAD 2026 list is a notable change but also creates opportunities for new Esports disciplines to make their appearance in this tournament. This is an occasion for Vietnamese Esports to diversify the competitive events, while also motivating players to strive for even higher achievements.